One of the common "defenses" on behalf of Donald Trump since Charlottesville is that he isn't programmatic enough in his thinking to be an actual Nazi. And that's true, to a point, in that Trump isn't an actual Nazi, he just likes Nazis because they say they like him.
And while it's true that Trump has no core ideology - because he has no education or curiosity about politics beyond crowd size and vote counts - he does have a governing "philosophy" if you will: patrimonial kleptocracy.
Patrimonialism is an ancient form of "governance" whereby a ruler co-opts the elites around him with favors and riches. Those people in turn support the leader who makes that constant flow of lucre possible. This naturally leads to kleptocracy, the rule by thieves, because the elites proceed to loot the state of its resources and revenues. It was Trevor Noah who first pointed out the similarities between Trump and an African "Big Man" like Mobutu, Amin or Mugabe.
Today brought a perfect example of this dynamic with the revelation that Trump has stressed the Secret Service's budget by his constant trips to properties that he owns. This includes $60,000 that Trump properties have charged the Secret Service for golf cart rentals. His decision to conduct business in the dining room of Mar-A-Lago has also stressed their ability to do their job. In other words, Trump's desire to drum up business at his properties is impeding the budgetary ability of the Secret Service to protect him.
Some of this preceded Trump, but his constant investment in his investments is making a bad situation intolerable.
Much was made of Trump's refusal to fully place his assets in a truly blind trust. We are seeing why. Trump has not been able to pass much of any of the GOP agenda. Aside from Neil Gorsuch and regulatory rollback, much of their agenda is DOA. True tax reform looks increasingly difficult. Trump's approval ratings are at record lows for this point in a presidency.
But he's enriching himself, his family and their hangers-on.
In the end, that's the point.
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