I used to teach fifth grade. I am the mother of three young adults. I understand the process of growing into maturity.
I also understand what happens when that process is disrupted, and the person in question continues to function like a pouty pre-teen.
Donald Trump, according to reports, has been whining to his staff that he wants to keep his own cell phone after his inauguration.
You understand, I’m sure, that when a person runs for President, he or she agrees to give up a lot of personal freedoms in return for all that power and prestige.
Presidents give up living at home so that they can occupy the White House. They give up driving their own cars, and taking off a casual weekend to go skiing.
They also give up their personal cell phone, so that the information that they send and receive is, you know, secure.
People who run for President of the United States have traditionally understood the need for these sacrifices in the name of security, professionalism and national dignity.
Not Donald J. Trump.
So far the President-elect has declared that he’d like to split his time between the White House and his Trump Tower Penthouse. His wife and son don’t even plan to move to Washington.
He has announced that instead of taking time off at the government’s Camp David Retreat, he’ll head for his resort at Mar-A-Lago.
Now he is whining that if he can’t keep his cell phone, he won’t be able to stay in touch with his friends.
I am not kidding.
As every parent and teacher knows, this line is right out of the pre-teen playbook.
“But Mom, if I don’t have a phone, how can I keep in touch with my friends?”
You can see the pout and hear the door slamming as he tromps upstairs to his bedroom.
Like every young kid in the western world, Donald Trump is addicted to social media. He uses it every day to brag about himself…
Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016
… and to make sure that none of the cool kids are being mean to him.
Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016
He texts and calls his friends in the business and entertainment worlds every morning, keeping up with all the gossip and probably checking to see who likes who.
Like every pre-adolescent alive, Donald Trump is still trying learn how to prioritize. Like them, he puts his own needs and wishes before everything else. Like those kids, he thinks that being liked is the most important goal in life.
I don’t know what happened to young Donald Trump to stop him from ever developing an adult perspective on the world. I don’t know why his emotional IQ continues to hover around the age of 13 or so.
Whatever the reason, it doesn’t bode well for the country to know that the guy who has the nuclear codes is just as immature as all those kids playing “HALO” in their basements.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Available through CC BY-SA 2.0
