"All the worlds's a stage"

Donald Trump's 55 minutes of live TV, in which he was seen chairing a meeting of senior Republicans and Democrats, was this week's moment of shock and awe, designed by the White House to show that the Commander in Chief wasn't as senile as Michael Wolff's book suggested.

Although there was some short term ohh-ing and ahh-ing, the PR benefit was quickly negated by three  things.  First there were the comments the following day that reinforced the idea that he can't really distinguish between his performance as an executive on "The Apprentice" and what he may believe is a performance as President. Welcoming people back to "the stage", and frequent references to critics and ratings suggest he sees himself playing role, one that I suspect he knows he is really not up to. 

Second was Trump's affirmative response to Senator Dianne Feinstein's suggestion that they proceed with a "clean DACA bill". That was a huge negotiating give-away, a disaster for the Republicans, and he was quickly corrected. But listen, we all make mistakes under pressure, right? Sure, but he's a self-proclaimed "stable genius", the best negotiator on the plant, so that rookie mistake is a big deal.

But most important of all was his promise to 'sign whatever they bring him', a commitment on which he reneged within 24 hours when he tweeted that he'd not accept any proposal that didn't include "the border wall". It must now be clear to anyone who may have been harbouring doubts, that he cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith. Whether he doesn't remember what he has said or simply doesn't care is immaterial; a man is only as good as his word, and Trumps' word is not worth anything. That's not only something that Congress must be concerned about; every world leader, including Iran's and North Korea's, must now be wondering if there is any point negotiating with our president if his word can't be relied on. That weakens the US' standing in the world and its ability to shape the international order.