No one ever suggested Donald Trump is a patient, meditative, reflective decision-maker, but more and more his impulsive behavior and unwillingness or incapability to focus is raising concerns about how he would run the White House.
"I think he's definitely got attention deficit disorder. That doesn't mean he isn't really smart — it just means he's not at his best when he's asked to dwell on a topic," Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio told Politico.
Trump has offered conflicting thoughts on his own ability to focus, claiming both "I have an attention span that's as long as it has to be" to Time last year, and outright admitting "my attention span is short" in his 1990 book Surviving at the Top.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This much is clear though: Trump would certainly be a contrast to the current president, "a reader by disposition and a lawyer by training who stays up late plowing through 'an insane amount of paper,'" Politico writes. George W. Bush also "read volumes of material every night." But Trump has said he doesn't like long reports: "Send me, like, three pages," he told Washington Post reporters of his briefing preferences. And on reading in general, he says he "doesn't have much time."
Jack O'Donnell, who served as one of Trump's Atlantic City casino executives, has seen how this works out, at least in the business world. O'Donnell recalled that when he worked for successful casino magnate Steve Wynn, the two would have eight- or nine-hour meetings.
That wasn't how Trump did things. "He would talk for a few minutes and then change the subject," O'Donnell said. "I don't think he has the capacity to listen."
-
How medical imposters are ruining health studiesUnder the Radar Automated bots and ‘lying’ individuals ‘threaten’ patient safety and integrity of research
-
‘How can I know these words originated in their heart and not some data center in northern Virginia?’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can Trump deliver a farmer bailout in time?Today's Big Question Planting decisions and food prices hang in the balance
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operationsSpeed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rulesSpeed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Actspeed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in VenezuelaSpeed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young RepublicansSpeed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
