Teflon Don

When his sins did not come back to haunt him, I called Donald J Trump "Teflon Don". Early in his run for the Republican nomination, he belittled John McCain, a man who withstood years as a prisoner of war and came back a hero, as a "loser" for getting caught.

 

Yet Mr. Trump not only survived this seeming mortal mistake, but triumphed despite more than occasional earth shatteringly inappropriate comments.

 

But it is not merely in his ability to separate himself from his own bad words that makes this President a Teflon Don. It is in his capacity to impersonate an imagined Mafia boss in his demeanor.

 

For Trump, running this country is like barking out an endless series of executive orders. Much as John Gotti, the original holder of this title, Teflon Don Trump sees himself behind his desk having his underlings appear, kiss his ring, and await his directive.

 

Teflon Don does not need to get his hands dirty, does not need to sweat the details. He merely has to spew forth mandates as the head of the family, making demands of those in his command.

 

Teflon Don's "I alone can fix it" is Marlon Brando advising a frightened and beleaguered patron to stop worrying for the godfather will protect him.

 

But this Teflon Don is a failure for he does not run his house with caution and wisdom but rather in haphazard fashion, shooting first and only then making others clean up his mess.

 

Teflon Don Trump would never last as a Mafia kingpin, his trigger hair temper and endless capacity to escalate skirmishes into wars, making his a house divided and vulnerable. 

 

If this Teflon Don were in a movie he would be killed off early, if not by his enemies then by those within his own ranks. But this Boss is not an imagined character on film, not the head of the five families, but a nation of 330 million. Not a creation of fiction, but a more than fictional reality.

 

Teflon Don Trump. Marlon Brando and John Gotti would roll over in their graves.