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Trump did not understand Pearl Harbor, new book reveals: 'What's this all about?'

Summary

A new book, A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, reveals Donald Trump's ignorance on key historical and geopolitical issues.

During a 2017 visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, Trump reportedly asked, "What's this all about?" showing a lack of understanding of Pearl Harbor.

The book also details Trump's confusion over India's border with China, his eagerness to meet Vladimir Putin before taking office, and his frustration with anti-bribery laws.

The authors claim their findings are based on extensive interviews and documents.

63 comments

  • Trump does not understand Pearl Harbor anything.

    Professor Kelley told me 100 times over three decades that “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” I remember his emphasis and inflection — it went like this — “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” Dr. Kelley told me this after Trump had become a celebrity but long before he was considered a political figure. Dr. Kelley often referred to Trump’s arrogance when he told of this — that Trump came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything.

    The USA is the worst fucking society because it's allowed these pricks that know nothing but think they know it all to fail upward their whole fucking lives. Musk is another prick exactly like this. These coddled fucking baby bitches who are going to tear down all the things that allowed them to amass such wealth. They literally think they're above it all and think things like "stability" or "respect on the international stage" are jokes.

    • It's not just born rich losers like Trump failing upward. It's across our entire society. I personally know typical Americans who have been allowed to fail upwards their whole lives. Not intelligent people who are in roles they shouldn't be in. It's across the board. Our society is built to allow stupid people to fail upwards. There simply aren't enough barriers to keep them from positions they shouldn't be in.

    • It's the wealthy managers, supporters and organizers in the background that have all the intelligence to run this circus. They get people like Turnip and Muskrat to lead the show. These are just dumb figureheads that will take the fall when the show is over.

      The show is run for as long and as far as possible so that the wealthy owners can get what they want (which is everything)

      And if it all works, these owners can all celebrate in the shadows with all their wealth.

      And if it all fails, they'll be the first to leave, hide and say that they never had a hand in any of it.

      • The thing is though, that so much of that wealth is tied up in valuation of the USD, the US stock market, and the USD position as a reserve currency.

        Sure, its clear they want to strip mine the US and bring US living standards down to match places like Afghanistan... But that really shows how little they understand how our own economic dominance was built on trust and stability.

        Once we have lost those things, all bets are off on their wealth actually staying stable, too.

    • Trump understands all the worst impulses of humanity and appeals to them without hesitation or shame.

    • So I guess this Professor Kelley failed him in whatever course they teach... Right?

      • As a college instructor, it's difficult sometimes. The dumbest goddamn students I've ever had still manage to pass sometimes due to being friends with the right people or getting lucky when cheating in a way that I can't necessarily prove. I can be 100% certain that someone cheated, but if I can't objectively prove it, it's really, really dangerous (to my career) to fail that student, especially when they are as connected and narcissistic as Trump.

        Plus, lots of people take advantage of more inclusive accommodations and more forgiving grading or attendance policies to the point that sometimes they do pass despite knowing a tiny fraction of the material. I could eliminate a lot of that by making the tests harder and removing a lot of academic support services I offer to make the class more "sink or swim," but then I'm mostly punishing the people that need my help the most. I just have to remind myself that it's better to pass a student that doesn't deserve it than it is to misjudge the situation and fail a student who legitimately just needed some additional understanding or academic support.

      • One would hope...

  • Well his hero was in the European theater and died by suicide in a bunker in Berlin so it kind of makes sense he doesn't know about the Pacific theater.

  • This loser has had a silver spoon shoved up his ass his entire life. Hey, weren't conservatives supposed to be against that kind of thing? Oh wait, conservatives don't actually have standards. Trump hasn't been forced to learn or grow because of that silver spoon. That's why he's an 80 year old man that acts like a 5 year old child and is about as intelligent as one. Does anyone, other than idiots, expect him to know anything about American history?

  • “Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Mr Trump reportedly asked John Kelly, his then-chief of staff, when they took a private tour in 2017 of the USS Arizona Memorial, a ship commemorating the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during the Second World War.

    "Trump had heard the phrase 'Pearl Harbor' and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else," write the authors, who quote a former White House adviser concluding the US president was “dangerously uninformed”.

    Presidents are not actually superhuman. They don't actually know everything about the world. They typically know about as much as any other reasonably-well-educated American, plus maybe some extra stuff from their background. Donald Trump worked in real estate and branding. Harry Truman was a haberdasher. Andrew Jackson was a soldier.

    They try really hard to give the impression that they're super-familiar with everything -- that's part of the campaign. But...they aren't.

    And they're gonna have blind spots, like anyone else.

    What makes a President especially capable is that they have a large staff of advisors and experts under them who can advise them on things, not that they have everything in their own skull.

    I know probably a fair bit about Pearl Harbor compared to the typical American. I think that there are interesting bits about it. But...to be honest, I'd say that it's not really all that critical to be especially familiar with it as a President. If you're a naval warfare historian, maybe a naval officer, sure.

    I think that probably, a President's important skills are being able to select competent people to work for them, being able to get along with them and willing to listen to them, being able to communicate well -- since they are the public face of the US and the face of the government to the public -- and maybe to conduct themselves ethically or something like that. Now...I don't personally believe that Donald Trump ranks very well on those characteristics. I don't think that he has the stuff that makes for a good President. But I also don't think that having a lot of familiarity with naval battles, even an important naval battle, is that critical, either.

    The Battle of Gettsyburg was also important from an American military history standpoint. Ditto for the Battle of Bunker Hill. But...I don't really think that a familiarity with them is all that important for a President. If they need to get that information, they should know how to get ahold of it (which...it actually sounds like Trump was doing there, asked someone who should know.

    • I understand what you were going for with this comment but I think you wildly missed the mark.

      I don’t expect presidents to be knowledgeable on all subjects either. I expect leaders to surround themselves with experts as well, but Trump has a long history of disagreeing with and firing his advisors and staff whenever he is wrong. This isn’t because he was in real estate, it’s because he is a narcissist and treats learning as a bruise to the ego.

      I expect heads of state to take the time to know why they are visiting a place or attending an event. For all the planning and preparation for the tour and the ridiculous travel time to get to Hawaii from the east coast, you expect me to believe that the President couldn’t be bothered to at least look it up on Wikipedia? Not even considering that the president doesn’t just show up randomly at places.

      Didn’t look it up, didn’t ask before hand, didn’t listen to any briefing, didn’t pay attention to where he was going. This isn’t because his background is in real estate, it’s because he is a selfish, inconsiderate, ignorant fool.

      And for the record, I’d expect the president of the Union to at least understand the importance of Gettysburg.

63 comments