Donald Trump Used His Business Skills to Improve School Safety, So Why Did His Business Skills Fail Him?

Donald Trump chairing school safety meeting

President Donald Trump ran on the premise that his negotiating skills would help him unite the country, end gridlock in Congress, and do things to help the nation. So far, that hasn't gone well. The Republican tax cut law was written behind closed doors with little Democratic input. The unsuccessful Republican Obamacare repeal was written with no Democratic input and failed to pass.


The shocking school shootings in Parkland, Florida were only the latest tragedies in the recent history of American mass murder. Yet, the Florida shootings have generated intense public outcry, and traditional pro-gun people are wavering a bit. Not much, but a little bit.

So, Mr. Trump called a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to talk about school safety. The problem is this: a good business meeting is based on the premise that everybody in the room wants the business to succeed, that everyone is trying to reach a deal. There is, to a lesser or greater degree, a common purpose.

This is not always the case in politics. Politicians often work in factions, just as our founding fathers feared. Working the group, Mr. Trump tried to get a consensus that something needed to be done, that both sides needed to compromise. Democrats would have to agree to better school security, while Republicans could accept basic gun control measures. From a deal-making standpoint, that sounded reasonable enough. It was an interesting exercise in group communication.

When Senator Pat Toomey commented that no bill had been passed, Mr. Trump responded, quite correctly, that "Do you know why? You’re afraid of the NRA." No question about it; the President was right.

Politicians, however, respond to constituencies and donors. Their constituencies and donors often push them to extreme, uncompromising positions. The NRA is a powerful political force with a strong political arm. Shortly after this meeting, Mr. Trump met with NRA leaders, and suddenly lost interest in even the most modest gun control measures. Guess what? It turns out that Mr. Trump was also afraid of the NRA. His business-negotiation style of meeting gained much attention and praise, but it was not enough to overcome factionalism. Government doesn't work like a business. Never has, never will. Instead, did the outsider president give us politics as usual?

See my earlier posts about this meeting here and here.