We told you so, but I don’t feel good about it.

I had a discussion in a sauna about six months ago with an Israeli who was has lived here his entire life. He asked me if I was from America, after hearing my accent, and I said yes. He then requested my opinion on Trump, and prefaced his remark by letting me know he was the greatest President ever. I could have provided a litany of US domestic reasons for disagreeing with his position, after all he is President of the US and so perhaps his American policies ought to be front and center. Instead I got to the heart of the matter, could Israel trust him, and in doing so I had to spell out my impressions of his character. I am cognitive psychologist, although not a clinician, but still I felt a bit capable of assessing his character and motivations from afar. The upshot was that he was collection of personality disorders. Someone with such a profile, and indeed his past actions at both a more personal level and business level supported my contentions with respect to his personality. He found it interesting, but still held onto his trust in Trump.

In brief, I suggested that someone who cannot reflect on his own mistakes, asserts that he is wiser than anyone else, is exceedingly confident in his judgment such that he need not research or consult about issues in front of him, considers even slight disagreements a reason to sever a relationship, feels no guilt, and takes as friends those he feels are most strong with little sense of humanity, is not someone to trust. As I would often say to friends who were in on Trump, think, think whether you would want him as a boss, as an investment counselor, as a neighbor, an attendee at a house gathering, someone to be left alone with your spouse, a business partner. If you have trouble envisioning him in your personal life, maybe you should think twice about affording him power in the public arena.

So my sauna companion, sadly I have to suggest I was correct, and his character has played out for us and the Ukraine, and NATO, and liberals and conservatives alike to be exactly who I projected. Sorry about that. I do blame BiBi for lacking the perception to not see this coming, after all Trump has thrown die hard conservatives, even, under the proverbial bus, Cheney, McCain, sets of cabinet members, long standing Republican leaders, so BiBi why not us. Your biggest error was cozying up to guy who predictably would upset almost every natural ally in the world, putting our country in the unenviable position of having a you BiBi, as one of the few democratic leaders who  continued to laud him. This distanced us from those who would should have worked hard to maintain as allies, and now we are left with Trump, who appears to fantasize about Iran. Well as I said to my sauna friend, now it is our turn to suffer the consequence of such a relationship. Note please, I always believe that Israel should try to build a positive relationship with whomever is the US President. But never should we make that a priority that impedes our relationship with other allies in the US. Bibi’s error is that he fell into the Trump spiderweb, going over the top, leaving, no room for other friends.