Periodically we hear how our elected officials should run the government like a business. If you don't think about it too closely, this sounds good, fiscal discipline and all that. But the government isn't a business. The prime duty of a business is to turn as much of a profit as possible for its shareholders. That's not what a government is supposed to do. And even though we voters sometimes get seduced by talk of balanced budgets and efficiency, when push comes to shove we don't want cuts to the things that benefit us. One of the positions advocated by the government-as-a-business party is eliminating regulations, because, they say, regulations constrain businesses and cost them money. Currently, a major US railroad is attempting to cut labor costs by reducing the number of workers on their trains. The union is pushing a regulation that mandates a minimum number, for safety reasons. Obviously this regulation will cost the railroad money, but I'd bet real money that the union members advocating for this regulation voted for Trump. Many right wing/conservative voters loathe the IRS and support the continual cutting of the agency's budget under Republican Congresses, yet complain when they are placed on hold for an hour or can't get their questions answered. Populism is only a good thing when it targets "the other".
When the businessman-politician is the head of a privately-owned corporation, the problems multiply. The president of a family-owned or other non-public company answers to no one. There are no shareholders, there is no board of directors. There is no check on the CEO's impulses. Donald Trump, once his father died, never had to justify his decisions, never had anyone who could overrule him. The head of an organization like the Trump Organization is, in effect, a mini-dictator. As much as Trump (and other business heads) liked to deride the "swamp", someone with government or military experience knows that the president isn't all-powerful. A governor already has experience having her programs frustrated by a legislature and familiar with compromising in order to get things done. A Senator has a background working within a legislature, as well as exposure to foreign policy.
In addition to the authoritarian mindset that is part & parcel of being the head of a private organization, Donald Trump's family built much of their wealth on illegal activities, including tax evasion. There is a history of doing whatever it takes to make a buck or two or a million. Lying to the New Jersey gambling commission, stiffing contractors and shameless self-promotion all add to the noxious stew.
Donald Trump is incompetent, Donald Trump is ignorant. But he thinks that he is the smartest and most competent person in the room, indeed in the whole country. He has never had anyone dare to stand against him, or even so much as contradict him, so naturally he rejects expert advice and ignore any information that doesn't support his opinion of how things ought to be. It's why, despite his own government supporting the opposite of his assertion that we have a crisis at the border, he maintains this fantasy.
We have a president who is ignorant of how government works, how the US economy works, how tariffs work, about the role of the military, how international alliances work, about the separation of powers. He is incompetent at diplomacy, and deal-making, at leadership in general. He is unwilling to listen to anyone who disagrees with him, indeed he demonizes those who disagree with him and attacks them as enemies. He concocts "facts" and "stats" to shore up his paranoid fantasies. He is incredibly thin-skinned with a hair-trigger temper.
How is this not the real national emergency?
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