Shallow sympathies
DAVID A. GRAHAM 6:00 AM ET
... The idea that Trump having “met him on a number of occasions” was germane exemplifies the president’s strange approach to condolences. Despite these encounters, Trump couldn’t come up with anything beyond vague generalities to say about Bush. This reflects Trump’s disinterest in politics before his own entry, his strained relationship with the political establishment, his absorption and lack of interest in other people, and his apparent unease with death and the role of comforting in general ...
Trump, ever self-centered, seems unable to imagine that there is anything more relevant than being graced by his own presence. But like many acts of self-aggrandizement, this one arguably betrays insecurity. Trump is a world-champion name-dropper, seeking to elevate himself with connections to other famous people. The funny thing about this is that he is the president of the United States, a concept he seems not to fully grasp nearly two years in. There’s no one more famous than him! Besides, it’s hardly surprising that the president would have met former presidents.
In several cases, Trump’s condolences have gone awry for other reasons. When John McCain, with whom he’d frequently sparred, died, he said his “deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family” of the late Republican senator, but he couldn’t bring himself to offer a kind word for the man himself.
When the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Trump’s concern was to distance himself from the sordid affair. “It’s in Turkey, and it’s not a citizen, as I understand it” ...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/12/dont-forget-the-flowers-sunday/577201/