[duxup]

Hard not to see just about every action by the Trump administration as just the politics of personal favors / personal loyalty rather than any thoughtful policy. Raise hell when speaking, collect bribes / personal favors and ultimately not do much else except pick winners and trash the market.

[freedomben]

I think that's exactly it. I find it grotesque and terrible.

But that said, he is operating the way he said he would, and the way he has been doing things in the business world his entire life. He is a negotiator and deal maker, and those deals get made by the personal connections. While I personally see corruption and ass kissing all over the place, I think a trump defender could argue that he is running the country more like a business, which is exactly what they wanted. As someone who has worked with government on policy development, there is something appealing about being able to have a conversation and change somebody's mind with new information. Unfortunately, I don't think he is getting good information, rather he is getting filtered information from people with a vested interest in getting him to go a particular direction. And of course, he has a vested interest because those people can also kick a lot of money in donations back to him

[duxup]

>there is something appealing about being able to have a conversation and change somebody's mind with new information

I think the only information he is interested in is personal favors and that's it. All indications are that Trump is very uncurious and takes little input even from his own staff.

I don't think that's so much bad info as, he honestly doesn't care.