Enough

Throughout her work, Hutchinson portrays President Trump as lacking in important leadership qualities. Through her anecdotes, she claims that Trump’s leadership was weakened by his vanity, hostility towards critics and opponents, difficulty with empathy, explosive temper, and obsession with appearing strong and in control. For example, she reveals that Trump did not reject a COVID mask due to an ideological stance about how to behave during the pandemic but rather because he did not like that his makeup was visible on the mask’s white straps. Although Hutchinson agreed with his decision at the time, she considers how this may have set a poor example: “The press would criticize him for not wearing a mask, not knowing that the depth of his vanity had caused him to reject masks— and then millions of his fans followed suit” (106). To reinforce her claim that Trump was obsessed with his image, Hutchinson describes how Trump would require his valet to carry a mirror so he could look at himself before events. Trump also commented on Hutchinson’s appearance, telling her to make her hair blonder and complimenting her when she obliged and did so.

Hutchinson claims that one of Trump’s major weaknesses was his difficulty with empathy and personal connections.