1(a) According to https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/politics/trump-laws-bills.html (Begin excerpts) “We’ve signed more bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any president, ever,” Mr. Trump said at a “Made in America” event at the White House. “For a while, Harry Truman had us. And now, I think, we have everybody.”... In fact, as he approaches six months in office on Thursday, Mr. Trump is slightly behind the lawmaking pace for the past six presidents, who as a group signed an average of 43 bills during the same period. And an analysis of the bills Mr. Trump signed shows that about half were minor and inconsequential, passed by Congress with little debate. Among recent presidents, both the total number of bills he signed and the legislation’s substance make Mr. Trump about average. (End excerpts) 1(b) How does narcissist Trump do everything without doing anything? Sounds like magic, isn't it? The secret lies in bragging or self-praise. He likes to praise himself while denigrating others. The following are some of the countless examples of his bragging about his "very, very large brain". (i) “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure. It’s not your fault.” Donald Trump on Twitter. (ii) Trump told Bob Woodward in September 2018: “Accurate is that nobody’s ever done a better job than I’m doing as president.” Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...esident/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.99546a39c1fc (iii) Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whom he talked with “consistently” about foreign affairs, Donald Trump responded in 2016, “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.” Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/17/donald-trump-i-consult-myself-on-foreign-policy-be/ (iv) Trump told a reporter in 1984. “It would take an hour and a half to learn everything there is to learn about missiles. … I think I know most of it anyway.” Source: http://time.com/4437770/presidential-debate-donald-trump-nuclear-negotiator/ 1(c) Here are some more examples of his boasting or self-praise from his interview by Sarah Westwood of Washington Examiner Magazine on his first 100 days (published on April 28, 2017) (i) “A lot of good things are happening. Really good things. We’re very proud of the job we’ve done." (ii) "I think we've done more than perhaps any president in the first 100 days. But I don't want to set the 100 days as a standard — I think even more importantly, I think that we've established foundations for the next, almost eight years." (iii) "I'd give us an A. I would say communication would be a little bit less than an A because I don't think we've gotten the word out what we've done because I think we're so busy getting it done that we're not talking about it. But I would give the administration, on the big picture, an A." (iv) "I've passed a lot of legislative bills that people don't even know about. Whether it's the VA and choice and whether it's a lot of different things, a lot of bills we've passed, including relating to the Internet, so we believe we'll have 32 legislative — this is not executive orders — this is legislative bills passed. And nobody knew that." (v) "We've freed up the economy, the work on regulation is unprecedented, what we've done on regulation. And I will tell you on legislative — which people said, 'oh well he's done nothing legislatively,' they didn't know, because we didn't make a big deal out of it, but we've done a great job. Not since Harry Truman has anybody done so much. That's a long time ago." (vi) "I think we've created some amazing, we've done some amazing things, and I think we've set some incredible foundations going onward, with relationships, with other countries, et cetera, et cetera." (vii) "I am somebody with a lot of heart and you know, you've heard what I said. Just, relax and let's let it all play out. Because I think everyone's going to be happy in the end. I will say that we're doing an amazing job at the border." Source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/full-interview-with-president-trump-on-his-first-100-days 1(d) AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace interviewed Donald Trump at the Oval Office, and the following are his remarks. (i) "Have you seen the tremendous success we’ve had in the Middle East with the ISIS (an abbreviation for the Islamic State group)? When (current Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al) Abadi left from Iraq, he said Trump has more success in eight weeks than Obama had in eight years. ... We have had tremendous success, but we don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it." (ii) "I have learned one thing, because I get treated very unfairly, that’s what I call it, the fake media. And the fake media is not all of the media. You know they tried to say that the fake media was all the, no. The fake media is some of you. I could tell you who it is, 100 percent. Sometimes you’re fake, but — but the fake media is some of the media. It bears no relationship to the truth. It’s not that Fox treats me well, it’s that Fox is the most accurate." (iii) "I’ve only been here now 93 days, 92 days. President Obama took 17 months to do Obamacare. I’ve been here 92 days but I’ve only been working on the health care, you know I had to get like a little bit of grounding right? Health care started after 30 day(s), so I’ve been working on health care for 60 days. ...You know, we’re very close. And it’s a great plan, you know, we have to get it approved." (iv) "I think the 100 days is, you know, it’s an artificial barrier. It’s not very meaningful. I think I’ve established amazing relationships that will be used the four or eight years, whatever period of time I’m here. I think for that I would be getting very high marks because I’ve established great relationships with countries, as President el-Sissi has shown and others have shown." Source: https://apnews.com/c810d7de280a47e88848b0ac74690c83
2. Zachary Karabell is a contributing editor at Politico Magazine. The following are excerpts from his February 13, 2017 article headlined "President Trump Has Done Almost Nothing" with the subheading "Tune out the noise coming from the White House. So far, very little has actually happened." (Begin excerpts) ....So far, Trump has behaved exactly like he has throughout his previous career: He has generated intense attention and sold himself as a man of action while doing little other than promote an image of himself as someone who gets things done. It is the illusion of a presidency, not the real thing. The key problem here is understanding Trump’s executive orders and presidential memoranda. Trump very quickly seized on the signing of these as media opportunities, and each new order and memo has been staged and announced as dramatic steps to alter the course of the country..... And yet, words are not the same as actions. Trump can issue as many documents called executive orders and presidential memoranda as he wants. As the fate of the travel ban shows, however, that doesn’t mean that even the more meaningful ones are actionable, and the preponderance of the orders to date would in any other administration have been news releases stating broad policy goals that may or may not ever become actual policy. But too many of us take these words as action. That confirms both the worst fears of what the Trump administration is and the greatest hopes of what Trump wants it to be: a White House that shoots first and asks question later, a White House of action and change that shakes the status quo to the core and charts a new path for America and Americans. To date, this White House has broken every convention and rule of tone and attitude, toward Washington and toward the truth. But in reality, it has done far less than most people think.... Trump poses a challenge to decades of tradition and precedent. He is masterful as conflating words and actions in a way that enrages and alarms his opponents and exhilarates and excites his supporters. It’s more important than ever to distinguish what is from what isn’t. Understanding the difference between what this president says and what he does is one of the only things that will keep our public debate from plunging ever deeper into the hall of mirrors. (End excerpts) Source: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/president-trump-has-done-almost-nothing-214775
