No, he is a narcissist with no coherent philosophy whatsoever, other than a philosophy that, for some reason, he wants to be President.
He may be a genuine authoritarian, but although I think closer to the middle it's mostly conservative who are authoritarians, there seem to be a fair number of liberal leaning authoritarians as well - sometimes referred to as do-gooders or nosy do-gooders.) Of course, if you go to the extremes their are hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are both extreme authoritarians as well as hard core leftists and hard core rightists who are extreme anti authoritarians.
So, that he is likely an authoritarian I don't think necessarily says anything about any other of his political views, if he even has any political views that are worth being taken seriously.
Combining the two, if you agree with George Orwell, he wants to be President to have power itself, and not to do anything with it.
Interesting summary Adam. I cannot argue with most of that and it's partly because Trump is a billionaire.
Trump is a narcissist. And a hopeless one at that.
When he talks, you can hear him driving off in a tangent to "Me, Me, Me Avenue, then MySelf Street, then Myself Road."
Everyone can hear his narcissism.
But I think people will forgive that if Trump is tightfisted with the US economy.
The USA has become a little bit of a dumping ground for all three issues.
You guys have been hit by terrorism (multiple times), invaded by Latino drugs and swamped by cheap Chinese manufactured crap.
That needs to be fixed on a basic "symbology" level.
It's a reflection more of the national identity which people are now repulsed by.
They are 4 years past "had enough". People are pissed off with the identity of the USA now. Islamic terrorism really flips peoples' burgers. Importing drugs into the USA openly through the southern border eats at the heart of the American identity.
These issues actually kill US citizens.
The honesty of
"The Lone Ranger" in the 1950's where people treated each other with respect is long gone when thinking about these issues.
Hence a defensive nationalist (narcissism or otherwise) is seen as the obvious solution.
It's clear Trump has done his market research, so on the level of saying what people want to hear so he can be President, you have nailed it.
There does not appear to be an obvious mandate behind his candidacy apart from removing issues as described. He does change his story to get votes as any populist would.
Trump is not a "principled" candidate like Ted Cruz whose political viewpoints are set in concrete.
Donald Trump is a populist.
On the political spectrum, he is a defensive nationalist.
He wants to isolate the US from those he sees would cause harm.
Chinese trade
Mexican illegal immigration
Islamic terrorism
This is part of the secret to Trump's success. Seen in these terms, he wants things everyone can agree with, and makes them top priorities. The Democrats are in a position where they appear to be more concerned with not appearing to be racist and xenophobic then about the safety of ordinary Americans. A party that comes off this way will have trouble when push comes to shove.
If Trump just stuck to these three things, and left out the offensive borderline attention grabbing one liner's, he would nearly be President by now.
The Democrats need to be careful they simply do not try and put 95% of their energy into #neverTrump 2.0
Because we all know how that will end.
Clinton needs to stand up and address her policies and why they are better.
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