@coledavis Well, first of all he did have the blessing of carrying on a fortune made by his father, but Trump grew it to a far higher amount. And yes, some of Trumps businesses did go bankrupt, but even star stock analysts only average 1 out of 3 successful picks. Also, only 1 in 10 startup businesses are expected to succeed. So if we make that the relative scale then Trump is a business genius!
I certainly agree with you that a "businessman" is not necessarily a good statesman. Furthermore, I would prefer not to see governments run like businesses!
Your last statement is where I think you're wrong when write that diplomacy has gone to pot and that protectionism will only work for a while. The fact is, countries like the USA are so vast in land that we don't even need to trade with the rest of the world. Trade for countries like Germany, Mexico, France, etc are essential for their survival, but it's merely a luxury for countries like the USA, China, and even to an extent Russia. The only bargaining tool that other countries have that the USA desperately needs is slave labor. That's it!! The USA is pretty much the stereotypical consumer based economy. In order to drive that we need cheap labor that can somehow give us cheap cars, clothes, and anything else. But we have enough farming to feed to feed not only the whole world but about 1.5 trillion people, the biggest military, and still by far the greatest GDP in relative terms to our population size and the rest of the world.....so I say Trump's protectionism and business friendly attitude will only serve the American people well...if not now then in the long term.