Trump has failed every test required of a leader

US President Donald Trump fell for the observers' paradox when he posted his ratings recently of the leadership qualities past US presidents. Subscribe now for unlimited access. All articles from our website The digital version of Today's Paper All other in your area The observers paradox is where the act of observing something changes the phenomenon being observed, thus rendering the findings invalid. US President Donald Trump, left, has been comparing himself to his predecessors. Pictures Shutterstock In Trump's case, the mere fact that a sitting president does leadership ratings on US presidents, including himself, changes the validity of the findings because any sitting president who does such an exercise and rates himself as the "greatest" leader has clearly showed a distinct lack of leadership qualities in doing such a thing. He has displayed himself as narcissistic, lacking judgement, and lacking insight into the consequences of his own actions. These are the ingredients of poor leadership. One of the consequences of his ratings post has been a rush by historians and others to put his assessments to the test - particularly the assessment of himself. Time and time again Trump has displayed dismal leadership qualities. An outstanding example was his actions in leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last month. First, he arrived at the summit on an aircraft given to him by the Qatari government. He should never have accepted the gift. It was clearly corrupt, especially as he announced he is going to keep it for his personal aggrandisement after he leaves office. Further, he refused to appreciate the obvious security problems of using the aircraft - his brand-new toy - to go anywhere near the Middle East putting him in range of potential attackers, notably Iran. Then, having been advised of the security risk and seeing he was in danger, he allowed himself to be taken away to another aircraft, leaving members of his cabinet, his advisers, and journalists on the Qatari aircraft knowing that they would be exposed to the risk. What sort of leader does that? Spinelessly skulking off in a catering cart leaving underlings and others as expendable decoys to face a risk that he was not prepared to accept himself. Why would those cabinet ministers ever trust him again? The test of good leadership rests upon what you say; what you do (both as initiatives and in response to events); how you engage others to help you do the things you do; assessing the likely consequences of what you do; and the actual consequences of what you do. Trump has failed on every count. And that can be seen by the actual consequences of what he had done. What did he say? He would have no forever wars. What did he do? Go to war in Iran. Who did he listen to? Just Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "War" Secretary Pete Hegseth whose appointment itself if another example of Trump's lack of leadership skills. He was duped. Did he assess the likely consequences, such as the closing of the Strait of Hormuz? No. And what were the actual consequences? Gulf allies were targeted by Iran. Oil shipments from Iran (about 20 per cent of world supply) and the Gulf states to the rest of the world were cut off, pushing up fuel and fertiliser costs, causing higher inflation and risking recession. Iranian schoolchildren and wedding guests were killed, not to mention 18 American soldiers. Similarly with the imposition of tariffs. Allies were insulted and their economies threatened. World trade was disrupted at great economic cost to all. The comparison with other presidents is instructive. George Bush the elder was faced with a belligerent Iraq that attacked Kuwait - similar to Trump facing a belligerent Russia that has attacked Ukraine or an Iran threatening nuclear armament. What did Bush say? Iraq, withdraw or face US force to make you withdraw. What did he do? Sought the best advice from people like General Colin Powell. Followed that advice. Marshalled the US forces and kicked the Iraqis out of Kuwait. What were the consequences? US alliances were strengthened. Democracy enhanced. Kuwait's sovereignty restored. And Bush held back from attempting regime change in Iraq. That's leadership George Bush the younger, on the other hand, showed no leadership 25 years ago. What did he say? Iraq has weapons of mass destruction when it didn't. What did he do? Invaded Iraq. Who did he consult? Like Trump, people who were poorly qualified and/or had vested interests in military-supply contracts, in particular Vice President Dick Cheney. What did he do? Invaded Iraq. What were the consequences? Death of millions and huge cost to the US. Same with Afghanistan. Trump's lack of leadership shows in what he did not do as well as what he did do. His failure of leadership over Ukraine has been appalling. What did he say? He could end the war in 24 hours. What did he do? Withdrew support for the victim of Russian aggression. What were the consequences? It emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin so that he now threatens NATO countries and he has built an axis with China and Iran. Putin has also wrecked his own economy at the cost of millions of Russians. If Trump had intelligently followed through with his promise to end the war (and it was in his power to do so), none of that would have happened. Aside from foreign policy, there is the personal and the national. He is trashing Washington's national sites for his personal aggrandisement. He has trashed the constitution and the rule of law to seek petty revenge on those who have slighted him and to impose his personal ill-founded view of the world on the nation's institutions and arms of government. He has raised insurrection, he has insulted and assaulted women and committed a felony in paying hush money to one of them. He has traduced, insulted, and belittled people who are not white, heterosexual, Protestant, males. He has bullied and threatened anyone who might stand in his way of his pursuit of absolute power. The result has been a humiliated, weakened US suffering poor economic growth, high inflation, depleted military strength and which is less able to marshal allies to defend democracy in the world, leaving the world more susceptible to the forces of autocracy - the autocracy for which he himself yearns. Trump mentioned Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln knew the fragility of democracy and the need for leadership to ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". In the ensuing 163 years, no one has done more to erode that system of government and threaten its existence than Donald Trump, easily the worst president in US history. This is only a broad outline, the detailed examples of Trump's poor leadership has and will fill books. The question now is will enough of the American people see the danger and come November elect enough people who have the courage to stand up to the bully and stop the erosion of rule-of-law democracy in the US. More from National Be the first to know when news breaks. Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. 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