Summary: The predictable reactions to Donald Trump's conviction for falsifying business records missed the crucial point: Trump's actions reflect poor character and impulsiveness, traits unsuitable for the presidency.

-His affair with Stormy Daniels, efforts to cover it up, and dishonest behavior highlight his unsuitability.

-Moreover, Trump surrounds himself with unethical individuals, as seen in his associations with Michael Cohen and David Pecker. His former respected aides, like Generals Mattis and Kelly, have condemned his character.

-The facts of this case clearly indicate that Trump should not return to the White House.

Donald Trump's Conviction: Why Character and Leadership Matter More Than Prison Time

The response to former President Trump’s conviction on 34 counts for falsifying business records (among other charges) was as predictable as the tides.

MAGA world criticized selective prosecution and called the trial “rigged.” Principled, Reagan-style Republicans praised America’s commitment to the rule of law. Democrats spoke of respecting the justice system, and pundits prognosticated. 

They all missed the point. What matters isn’t whether Donald Trump serves prison time in a nation that already has about two million people behind bars. What matters is whether this man should be President. There, the facts that came out in the case – ones that no one seriously disputes or that no one disputes at all – prove that Trump has both poor character and self-discipline and surrounds himself with people who are unethical, untrustworthy, or just plain incompetent. 

I’m not an attorney, let alone a criminal attorney. I don’t know if these traits should land him in prison. But I know they should keep him out of the White House. 

Start with the trial’s “original sin,” namely Trump’s decision to sleep with porn star Stormy Daniels. Yes, Trump disputes that it happened, but denial is ludicrous; there is photographic evidence they met, Daniels was able to describe Trump’s physique in remarkable detail, and his team could never quite explain why he would pay $130,000 to a porn star he didn’t sleep with. 

Even leaving aside the immorality of breaking the Seventh Commandment (thou shalt not commit adultery), such behavior speaks to a lack of impulse control and risk assessment. He was a man responsible for hundreds of people’s employment whose net worth was, by his own admission, directly tied to the value of his personal brand.  He was, even at the time, an extremely public figure. If he had an affair, it would almost certainly come out and, if it did, he would be risking countless people’s jobs and billions of dollars.

He did it anyway. He didn’t think. He just acted. And, in a president, such impulsiveness can be disastrous. Indeed, it already has been, as when Trump decided, in front of the whole world, to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies.

Few people dispute the affair with Daniels; even fewer – not even the former president or his attorney – dispute that he wanted to keep the allegation out of the public eye. He paid Daniels to keep quiet. He paid David Pecker of The National Enquirer to “catch and kill” the story. He had henchmen, like Michael Cohen, threaten and cajole people to keep it quiet.

It never occurred to him to level with the American people. He could not tell them the truth, that he’d made a terrible mistake, that he felt remorse, or that he’d learn from the experience. He demonstrated an emotional immaturity we associate with teenagers, which is unacceptable in a president. We expect presidents to be levelheaded in crises and to be honest with the American people. 

And, again, Trump was neither levelheaded nor honest as president. He threatened a nuclear-armed nation with “fire and fury,” seemingly without any plan whatsoever for backing up his tough talk. And, as president, he lied to the American people over 30,000 times.

Finally, and most damningly, no one disputes the types of people Trump surrounded himself with, and these were clearly not “the best people.”  Michael Cohen may well be a shyster, a criminal, a liar, and even a “rat.” He was also Trump’s lawyer and right-hand man for 12 years. David Pecker was also a close confidante, and he was the publisher of a paper synonymous with insane, fact-free headlines. 

Trump’s other “best people” included Robert Costello, now known for rolling his eyes and glaring at a judge while giving testimony; a lawyer whose failure to stop questioning into intimate details of Trump’s sex life left even the judge dumbfounded; and Allen Weisselberg, who ran the finances of the Trump Organization for decades and is now serving jail time for perjury.

It is telling that the people who were well-respected coming into Trump’s orbit, like General John Kelly, General James Mattis, Lt. General HR McMaster, and Secretary of Defense Mike Esper have made brutal judgments of Trump’s character.  Mattis, after all, called Trump “the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people–does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.” Kelly went even further, telling America that Trump had a soft spot for despots and even praised Nazi leader Adolph Hitler. 

As this trial once more reminded us, Trump wants people who are unethical. He prizes loyalty to him above competence or personal morality. Competent, reasonable, and ethical people need not apply.

Trump’s second administration, then, would contain far more Weisselbergs and Cohens and far fewer Kellys and McMasters. America’s enemies would be overjoyed. 
Many Republicans are taking Trump’s guilty verdict personally. They take it as proof he was “railroaded.” Even if that were true (and it’s a tenuous case that it is, given that Trump was found guilty by 12 jurors, not by a “Democrat judge,” and over 9000 people in New York state have been arraigned on falsifying records charges since 2015), however, that doesn’t mean that Trump should be president. Facts in this case, ones that no one disputes, prove that this man should never step foot in the White House again.

About the Author: Neal Urwitz

Neal Urwitz is a public relations executive in Washington.