Most people in the Trump camp acknowledge that the man was a poor judge of character - that he elevated and allied with numerous people (e.g., Pence) and/or appointed them to positions of power and prominence although they, ultimately, were not worthy (with many of them actually turning on / against him later).
I choose to believe that President Trump was probably a better judge of character than most people - but that the D.C. swamp often forced him to choose the proverbial "lesser of two evils." Further, the Deep State was constantly at odds with him, undermining him and suborning his subordinates.
Look forward to voting for him again (for the third time) this November.
Regards,
In the case of Pence, I don't see how it could have been helped. Trump had to go in with politically astute advisors (who also have their warts). They navigated through some very rough days to achieve the goal. Undoubtedly they thought he needed a splash of eau de Pence, and at the time, that wasn't bad advice.
Overall, Trump knows how to delegate, but at that level of power, it's like sorting live ordnance from duds. Errors are spectacular. (Even when you realize the error in time, how do you get rid of a problem like Jeff Sessions without getting your hands blown off?)
Trump was a one-of-a-kind item in 2016. So were his selections. This time, experience will weigh more than advice.
The D.C. swamp didnt leave much for Trump to chose from.. Imagine working as the head of a county animal shelter and the lunch menu is what you can find in the side yard.
Years ago, I got a capitol tour booked through a U.S. Senator's office from a small state of which I was a resident.
Other than the administrative assistant, I was surprised to find out that almost NONE of the staffers were from the same state. Since it was summer vacation season, I asked one why and got a response which was refreshingly honest.
Almost all of the lower level staffers live on the green line (a crime infested area of DC but with cheap housing as a result), get low pay and share rooms with most living 6 to a 3 bedroom flat. They are government junkies who love the thrill of being close to power in exchange for low pay. If a senator or congressman retires or otherwise leaves office or a staffer gets promoted, they go to the next one available. This is the pool of people available in the DC swamp.
Justices Kennedy and O'Connor have both said in books that their opposition to gay marriage was broken down by working with gay law clerks over the years who were so polite and so tireless in their work.
This is the environment of the swamp. This is why it has to be drained.
With Ivanka and Jared out of his political staff this time around, this might be different. I think those libs might have had too much influence over his personnel decisions. (I could be wrong.)
I don’t think President Trump is a poor judge of character. He was forced to choose pence or some other squash much the same way Reagan was forced to take on bush 1.
We as Americans did not do our part by electing conservative senators and congressmen to work with him.