Donald Trump Doesn't Want to Govern

The current federal government shutdown has now become the longest on record. Lots of folks are hurting, from furloughed government employees to furloughed government contractors to the beneficiaries of numerous government programs, such as farmers, small businesses needing SBA loans, prospective homebuyers seeking an FHA or USDA loan, and women seeking protection in one of the many domestic violence shelters that receive federal funds.  Although a lot of government leaders in Washington are creating the appearance of activity, there is no sign of a resolution.  The reason is simple.

President Trump doesn't want to govern.  He wants to win.  Winning, for him, is an imperative.  He looks at life as a competition, where there are winners and losers.  And he is obsessed with winning. 

Governing, however, requires magnanimity, open-mindedness, a concern for others, and an interest in the welfare of the polity as a whole.  In a democracy, governing involves a willingness to accommodate the wishes of those of differing views and compromise.  Leaders, to be successful, must forbear from pressing for the lion's share.  The people are the lion in a democracy.

Trump has shut down the government in a contest over funding for his wall on the border with Mexico, where he wins if the wall is funded and he loses if the wall isn't funded.  By turning what was a political issue that was quite susceptible to compromise into a zero-sum situation, he has pushed the newly empowered Democratic leadership of the current 116th Congress into a joust.  The Democratic leadership in Congress, now wielding majority control in the House and understandably feeling they have a mandate from the electorate not to do things the Trumpian way, see no reason to concede.

President Trump has set a record--for the longest government shutdown ever.  He's not winning.  He's losing.  His legacy, already tenuous, now careens toward abysmal infamy.  The government will re-open, because it must.  Americans, fed up with the dysfunction in Washington, won't accept non-function.  A little graciousness from Donald Trump would be all it takes to get the government up and running again quickly, without an inordinate amount of fallout.  But he's not a gracious man.  So the eventual re-opening of the government is likely to be as ugly as the shutdown.  Whatever the circumstances under which the government re-opens, Trump will have revealed a senseless pettiness that tarnishes his Presidency for the remainder of his time in the White House.