To think of Donald Trump as nothing but a clown who somehow stumbled into the White House is wrong on every level. The man has demonstrated his abilities countless times, albeit in unconventional ways. This doesn't have to necessarily mean he is a competent politician -- he most likely is not -- but does that matter in the grand scheme of things? Meaning, does that matter to Trump's supporters? His opponents were barking up the wrong tree during the election and they continue to do the same.
Trump is the embodiment of Machiavellianism
One has to have a tendency to be manipulative, and, to an extent, sociopathic, to succeed in politics.
And one could argue that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have these tendencies, yet Trump is the leader of the most powerful country in the world and Clinton is not. Like the famous German statesman Otto von Bismarck once famously said: "Politics is the art of the possible."
Donald Trump has made the impossible possible and that is an accomplishment in itself. He was running against the powerful Democratic Party, against a skilled politician, against the media, against a large part of the public, and, some would say, against his own party. Yet, he won because he's good at what he does -- the talent that has helped him build an empire in business helped him climb the political ladder of the United States of America.
Persuasion, bullying, and spirit
Unlike his opponents, Donald Trump is not a sterile bureaucrat or a career politician. He has character and character goes a long way. When your main goal is to appeal to emotion and satisfy the hungry masses with your off-beat jokes, eccentricity, and personality, persuading and manipulating the nation comes easy.
Trump is a skilled and experienced persuader and he has used numerous well-known persuasion techniques to seduce Americans.
This is Machiavellianism 101. The ends justify the means for Donald Trump and for most politicians for that matter, but Trump managed to shift a few paradigms in winning the presidency, dismantling the election process as it is, along the way.
This may not say a lot about his ability to run a country, but it most certainly says a lot about his understanding of social dynamics and mass psychology.
It will be interesting to witness and analyze the 2020 election from a socio-psychological perspective, and we have Trump and his unique brand of Machiavellianism to thank for that.
