PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Donald Trump fancies himself as a master of the art of the deal.

Given recent events, that may just be in his mind.

This is the way Jackson Diehl, deputy editor of the Washington Post editorial page, describes this issue in a summary of the last weeks of Trumpism:

“Trump is now saying the Korea summit may go ahead, even though there is no sign that Kim has changed his position on denuclearization. Still, the past month has taught all sides a lesson about Trump, if they didn’t know it already: He’s not up to serious negotiation. He can’t be expected to seriously weigh costs and benefits, or make complex trade-offs. He’s good at bluster, hype and showy gestures, but little else. In short, he may be the worst presidential deal-maker in modern history.”

If you stop and think about it over the past year-plus of the Trump presidency, he loves to be lauded and complimented. If that happens, he relishes the attention, even from very questionable world leaders like Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong un.

But, if Trump is criticized, all hell breaks loose, as does his Twitter account.

Consider this summary about Trump from Senator John McCain, who has recently written a book about his political life as he is nearing the end due to brain cancer:

“The appearance of toughness or a reality show facsimile of toughness seems to matter more than any of our values. Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity.”

A great line, but not just a line – an indictment of a president who is not up the job of holding the top political position in the nation, if not the world: “Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity.”

Trump appears to be still looking for plaudits, even as he conducts himself with no apparent interest in coming across as even-handed and competent, not to mention one who can cut a good deal.

Now, there will be those who suggest that Trump’s approach to deal-making – offering something on one hand, then taking it away with impunity with the other hand – constitutes smart strategy. But, to quote one congressional leader, it becomes almost impossible to deal with jello – comparing Trump to something that doesn’t stay solid.

Trump’s deal-making approach is that he wants Americans to think that any deal revolves around his own image of himself and he always is the only one who matters. We’ll see how all this plays in North Korea – if, after all the pushing and shoving, a summit actually occurs.