Donald Trump's Behavior

Drunk on Power?

Watching Donald Trump ride the wave of The Art of the Deal in the 1980s as the book’s editor, I was amazed by his self-discipline, especially when it came to alcohol. We did not exchange confidences, but I was told his older brother Fred’s descent into alcoholism and his death at age forty-two had a profound effect on him.

In the orbit of cigar smokers, I never saw him smoke. And he was disgusted by detritus. The only time I saw him lose his temper was when a freelance photographer glued black garbage bags on the ceiling of his Trump Tower office.

He threw him out.

On the day in 1990 when The Wall Street Journal reported he was billions of dollars in debt, I was flying east from Las Vegas with him on his private jet. He canoodled with his paramour Marla Maples, seemingly without a care in the world.

So far in this second presidency, Trump’s personal flailing and blustering demeanor are its main characteristics. Whatever else is on display, it is not self-discipline.