Trumpian Bluff

The present US President Donald John Trump only does things he needs no diploma for: shoving money around, playing golf and now being president. How does he do all of this without any formal education or training? The answer is one word: bluff. He is a poker player. Let’s look at some highlights of his entertainment.

Business. He is a self-declared millionaire. Yet, he might not have a cent to him; it doesn’t matter. All that counts, pardon the pun, is image. One can live very well – as my mother used to call it – from interest of one’s debts. He just went bankrupt numerous times and then won from that by tax deducted the losses. Apparently, he never lost, pardon the pun, any sleep over so robbing from many people he dealt with what they were entitled to. He has no respect for losers. That he made them lose is immaterial, pun not intended. After all, walking is in fact slowly falling forwards but swinging a leg that makes you progress instead….

Negotiations. His self-declared specialty. However, we have seen that he only has four modes: 1. Being slimy. See if it gets him what he wants. 2. Being blunt. I want this. See if others will “cooperate.” 3. Capitulating, in order to pretend he won. “Look, everyone seems happy with our deal.” 4. Completely surprising others by choosing way outside of the box that is totally unfavorable for himself. That is his definition of outsmarting others. He lost, but who cares? You win some, you lose some. As a dictatorial person, he has no clue about negotiating. He also doesn’t have the patience for it. But it all doesn’t matter as long he can say afterwards that he TRiuMPhed.

Elections. Against all odds he won. He’s dead set on winning again. So what does he do? He repeats whatever gave him the first term in office. Everyone predicted he would never make it, so he’s not disheartened by all the polls in the world now saying that “again” we won’t stand a chance in hell. He proved them all wrong and he’ll be happy to repeat that. In fact, he’s a arch-optimist who never lets doom or fact gets in his way. And he might be right again after all, because there is no worthy competition in sight. Don’t forget that he won because most people didn’t like either candidate, so likability has nothing to do with it!

Boss. Remember his “When you’re so rich, you can do whatever you want.”? That’s what he does. He learned, that for most people you can “make it OK” if you say the right thing afterwards – and smile, if needed. It doesn’t have to be true – truth is just a hang up for losers. (Don’t blame him for lying if you can’t take his truth!) And whatever he is, he’s not a looser. And if you can upset them, they look like losers and you’ve half won already. Upset them! Insult them! This is especially worthy as a smokescreen, to divert attention from all the important stuff he tries to do when no one is watching. However, he now works under a boss – elected politicians – for the first time in his life – and he doesn’t even realize it – why are they bothering him? As any capitalist boss, they are creating a file with every problem they’re having with this president. When time has come to dump him, such a file will come in very handy.

Once you understand that it’s all fun for him, you won’t need to waste your time, energy and sanity by labeling him as wicked. He’s not evil incarnate. He’s just in a different movie. You try to create a better world – he’s simply gaming. Just get him to return to his movie.

PS: There’s been much criticism on the political establishment (and I’m not saying that’s incorrect) but isn’t Trump making them look good?

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1