How is Donald Trump even qualified to be president?

[Dr. Arch]

He is over 35 and an natural-born American and been a resident for 14+ years.  The only qualifications you need.

Republican logic:
Obama was a one-term senator before running for president: HE'S UNQUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT!!

Donald Trump has absolutely no experience whatsoever: "He is over 35 and an natural-born American and been a resident for 14+ years.  The only qualifications you need."

Trump has immense EXECUTIVE experience; more than any Presidential candidate since Eisenhower.  And he's seeking the ultimate executive job in the US.

His experience is all in the private sector.  If elected, he'll experience the difference in a hurry.  But to say that he is "unqualified" in the sense that his career in business is irrelevant to the job he's seeking is just not true.

Sure, he has executive experience, and as a conservative Republican, I greatly value private sector experience (I'm a huge fan of Romney and also like Bloomberg). But these men had both business AND executive political experience. And unlike Trump, they understood policy and knew how the government worked. You may disagree with them politically, but Romney and Bloomberg are serious thoughtful knowledgeable men. One cannot say the same about Trump. His expertise is in real estate, but that knowledge does not help with macroeconomics, fiscal policy, budgets, national security, executive orders, geopolitics, military, and a host of other complex issues that the President must deal with on a daily basis. And even in the business realm, Trump has been mediocre; whenever he ventured outside of real estate, he has failed spectacularly. He inherited a massive fortune from his dad, got lucky a few times, and then slaps his name on everything like the vulgar charlatan that he is.

Perfect

[Fuzzy Bear]

He is over 35 and an natural-born American and been a resident for 14+ years.  The only qualifications you need.

Republican logic:
Obama was a one-term senator before running for president: HE'S UNQUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT!!

Donald Trump has absolutely no experience whatsoever: "He is over 35 and an natural-born American and been a resident for 14+ years.  The only qualifications you need."

Trump has immense EXECUTIVE experience; more than any Presidential candidate since Eisenhower.  And he's seeking the ultimate executive job in the US.

His experience is all in the private sector.  If elected, he'll experience the difference in a hurry.  But to say that he is "unqualified" in the sense that his career in business is irrelevant to the job he's seeking is just not true.

Sure, he has executive experience, and as a conservative Republican, I greatly value private sector experience (I'm a huge fan of Romney and also like Bloomberg). But these men had both business AND executive political experience. And unlike Trump, they understood policy and knew how the government worked. You may disagree with them politically, but Romney and Bloomberg are serious thoughtful knowledgeable men. One cannot say the same about Trump. His expertise is in real estate, but that knowledge does not help with macroeconomics, fiscal policy, budgets, national security, executive orders, geopolitics, military, and a host of other complex issues that the President must deal with on a daily basis. And even in the business realm, Trump has been mediocre; whenever he ventured outside of real estate, he has failed spectacularly. He inherited a massive fortune from his dad, got lucky a few times, and then slaps his name on everything like the vulgar charlatan that he is.

I would have supported Bloomberg if he ran, but he didn't.

I may well have supported Romney this time if he had ran, but he didn't.

I would also mention that Romney's experience as Governor of MA was downplayed to the point where he often didn't mention it.  His business experience and his role as a "job creator" was emphasized.  His experience as Governor was avoided because his signature achievement was Romneycare, the blueprint for Obamacare, more or less. 

Romney lost in no small part because he was billed as a "job creator" and he wasn't.  He was a "wealth creator" and a leveraged buyout guy.  I'm not knocking this, and at Bain Capital, Romney had lots of experience of coming into difficult situations with companies and forcing them to live within their means, which meant laying off people.  But he was stuck with a false narrative by foolish campaign consultants.  The real Mitt Romney was more attractive than the narrated Mitt Romney.

[PeteB]

Give credit where credit is due.  Trump has good business experience in real estate and dealing with a specific marketing and entertainment  segment and, if I was hiring a new CEO of Irvine Company ( a real estate developer) or The Apprentice, I would consider him strongly.

But this is a job that requires administrative and corporate knowledge that Trump just never had nor has any interest in learning. It is a job which requires very specific experience and abilities, and the ability to blend executive decision making with diplomacy and tact, none of which Trump really has.

It's fun to imagine that regular Joes can be CEOs of major corporations or NFL coaches without any training or experience but, in real life, that just doesn't happen. Just like I would not hire Trump to be a CEO of Ford or Kraft, I wouldn't hire him to run the US, essentially the world's largest and most diverse corporation. In short he is NOT qualified.

[ag]

He is not. But it does not matter, alas.

[Arbitrage1980]

Give credit where credit is due.  Trump has good business experience in real estate and dealing with a specific marketing and entertainment  segment and, if I was hiring a new CEO of Irvine Company ( a real estate developer) or The Apprentice, I would consider him strongly.

But this is a job that requires administrative and corporate knowledge that Trump just never had nor has any interest in learning. It is a job which requires very specific experience and abilities, and the ability to blend executive decision making with diplomacy and tact, none of which Trump really has.

It's fun to imagine that regular Joes can be CEOs of major corporations or NFL coaches without any training or experience but, in real life, that just doesn't happen. Just like I would not hire Trump to be a CEO of Ford or Kraft, I wouldn't hire him to run the US, essentially the world's largest and most diverse corporation. In short he is NOT qualified.

CEO and POTUS are 2 radically different jobs.  A CEO can pretty much do whatever he wants since he is only beholden to the Board of Directors, and they rarely fire CEOs unless they really mess up. POTUS is a mind blowingly difficult job because on one hand you are technically the most powerful person in the world but on the other hand, are constrained by our Constitution and political reality.

To put it a different way. The United States has had countless thousands of CEOs over its history, many of them pretty darn good. We have only had 43 men serve as POTUS, including Obama, since 1789. Only a handful of them will go down in history as a great POTUS, and 2 of them-Lincoln and FDR-paid for it with their lives.  Quite frankly, depending on the company, being a CEO is not THAT difficult. Cutting costs, improving operational efficiency, please shareholders by paying out dividends, making a few good investments, require intelligence and skill, but there are many Americans who can do it. To be a great POTUS, on the other hand, requires a special specimen, almost a superhuman freak who can withstand insane pressure, stay cool and collected, think quickly on his feet, inspire the nation during times of crisis, communicate effectively, work with various factions of Congress, possess a strong working knowledge of a wide array of issues, and much more.

If you feel comfortable giving that much power and responsibilities to a lifelong con artist, fraud, and a reality TV star, then vote Trump. I'm anti-Hillary as well and will absolve myself of this disgusting choice by voting for the only ticket this year made up of two successful former GOP governors. 

[PeteB]

Give credit where credit is due.  Trump has good business experience in real estate and dealing with a specific marketing and entertainment  segment and, if I was hiring a new CEO of Irvine Company ( a real estate developer) or The Apprentice, I would consider him strongly.

But this is a job that requires administrative and corporate knowledge that Trump just never had nor has any interest in learning. It is a job which requires very specific experience and abilities, and the ability to blend executive decision making with diplomacy and tact, none of which Trump really has.

It's fun to imagine that regular Joes can be CEOs of major corporations or NFL coaches without any training or experience but, in real life, that just doesn't happen. Just like I would not hire Trump to be a CEO of Ford or Kraft, I wouldn't hire him to run the US, essentially the world's largest and most diverse corporation. In short he is NOT qualified.

CEO and POTUS are 2 radically different jobs.  A CEO can pretty much do whatever he wants since he is only beholden to the Board of Directors, and they rarely fire CEOs unless they really mess up. POTUS is a mind blowingly difficult job because on one hand you are technically the most powerful person in the world but on the other hand, are constrained by our Constitution and political reality.

To put it a different way. The United States has had countless thousands of CEOs over its history, many of them pretty darn good. We have only had 43 men serve as POTUS, including Obama, since 1789. Only a handful of them will go down in history as a great POTUS, and 2 of them-Lincoln and FDR-paid for it with their lives.  Quite frankly, depending on the company, being a CEO is not THAT difficult. Cutting costs, improving operational efficiency, please shareholders by paying out dividends, making a few good investments, require intelligence and skill, but there are many Americans who can do it. To be a great POTUS, on the other hand, requires a special specimen, almost a superhuman freak who can withstand insane pressure, stay cool and collected, think quickly on his feet, inspire the nation during times of crisis, communicate effectively, work with various factions of Congress, possess a strong working knowledge of a wide array of issues, and much more.

If you feel comfortable giving that much power and responsibilities to a lifelong con artist, fraud, and a reality TV star, then vote Trump. I'm anti-Hillary as well and will absolve myself of this disgusting choice by voting for the only ticket this year made up of two successful former GOP governors. 

Read my entire post, especially the last sentence!

[Arbitrage1980]

Give credit where credit is due.  Trump has good business experience in real estate and dealing with a specific marketing and entertainment  segment and, if I was hiring a new CEO of Irvine Company ( a real estate developer) or The Apprentice, I would consider him strongly.

But this is a job that requires administrative and corporate knowledge that Trump just never had nor has any interest in learning. It is a job which requires very specific experience and abilities, and the ability to blend executive decision making with diplomacy and tact, none of which Trump really has.

It's fun to imagine that regular Joes can be CEOs of major corporations or NFL coaches without any training or experience but, in real life, that just doesn't happen. Just like I would not hire Trump to be a CEO of Ford or Kraft, I wouldn't hire him to run the US, essentially the world's largest and most diverse corporation. In short he is NOT qualified.

CEO and POTUS are 2 radically different jobs.  A CEO can pretty much do whatever he wants since he is only beholden to the Board of Directors, and they rarely fire CEOs unless they really mess up. POTUS is a mind blowingly difficult job because on one hand you are technically the most powerful person in the world but on the other hand, are constrained by our Constitution and political reality.

To put it a different way. The United States has had countless thousands of CEOs over its history, many of them pretty darn good. We have only had 43 men serve as POTUS, including Obama, since 1789. Only a handful of them will go down in history as a great POTUS, and 2 of them-Lincoln and FDR-paid for it with their lives.  Quite frankly, depending on the company, being a CEO is not THAT difficult. Cutting costs, improving operational efficiency, please shareholders by paying out dividends, making a few good investments, require intelligence and skill, but there are many Americans who can do it. To be a great POTUS, on the other hand, requires a special specimen, almost a superhuman freak who can withstand insane pressure, stay cool and collected, think quickly on his feet, inspire the nation during times of crisis, communicate effectively, work with various factions of Congress, possess a strong working knowledge of a wide array of issues, and much more.

If you feel comfortable giving that much power and responsibilities to a lifelong con artist, fraud, and a reality TV star, then vote Trump. I'm anti-Hillary as well and will absolve myself of this disgusting choice by voting for the only ticket this year made up of two successful former GOP governors. 

Read my entire post, especially the last sentence!

I agree with what  you wrote; I was simply adding my opinion as well.

[Sir Mohamed]

He isn’t. Period.

Some people think he is because of the myth he invented as a “brilliant businessman”. But as already pointed out, the facts tell otherwise. He’s actually a show and con man, and that’s the one thing where he is very successful. But this does not qualify you to be president. He has neither the personal nor the professional qualities to serve.

But even if, big if, he were a successful businessman: Running a business = / = Running a government

[Yank2133]

He isn't.

But white men tend to give breaks to white men.

[ProudModerate2]

He isn’t. Period .....

[Hermit For Peace]

He isn’t. Period .....