Some years ago I read a crudely written book by a ghost-writer on behalf of Donald Trump –then a fledgling businessman trying his luck on big construction projects. This was in the mid-1980s by which time Trump was in his early forties and by then approaching his first billion. Trump had already built the Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan – a 58-storey skyscraper that would remain central to his business organisation.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the book so it must have been lost. I recall, however, my main impressions. What comes out clear is that even then he was full of himself, boastful and unrestrained in his exuberance about his great achievements. He was (and is still more so now) a narcissist par excellence. The main thrust of the book was about his skills as a negotiator. He is depicted as a man who relishes a fight and rarely gives up.

Many years later, at the age of 71, Trump is elected President of the US mainly on his boast of being an anti-establishment figure, a self-made man, an outsider to the existing political order. He projected himself as the man who would succeed where the other traditional politicians had failed. As part of the whole make-up he also assumed the role of torchbearer of right-wing politics, some of them tinged in extreme colour.

He speaks a simple (almost childish) language, repeating the same words for emphasis, and articulating important parts with his hands and fingers. He certainly touched more than one chord in the national psyche (and pride). In the meantime he had also become a public figure in the entertainment industry by providing in the Trump Tower the setting for the NBC show The Apprentice which included a fully functional TV studio set in the building and his own very active participation in the show.

All this was prelude to what we are now witnessing in his role as president. He has changed very little. The little hope people had that the responsibilities of power would tame him have vanished into thin air. He is a person who flourishes when there are no restraints upon him. This was something that he was able to do with much success in his business dealings, but which he is unable to accomplish as leader of one of the foremost countries in the world that is governed by the rule of law and strongly maintains its democratic credentials.

The little hope people had that the responsibilities of power would tame Donald Trump have vanished

He acts on instinct and is generally untamed. He distrusts even those nearest to him. The wave of executive orders which characterised the first few weeks of his presidency left him seriously wounded by the opposition he found. Indeed, in the first six months he has achieved very little. According to the latest polls he is losing ground everywhere, even among his base supporters.

What now? The picture is getting murkier by the day. In frustration he makes personal issues on everything. Fake news and enemies abound around him. The mayor of a city devastated by a category 5 hurricane is attacked. Black NFL players who kneel during the national anthem are lambasted. He sends out tweets with serious threats against news agencies that do not toe his line.

A healthcare law that has helped millions of Americans is depicted in the worst colours and he tries to sabotage it by executive orders disregarding the fact that many of those who had voted for him (mainly in the rural areas) will be very badly affected by his rash actions.

He has pulled the US out of the Paris accord on climate change. He is trying to sabotage NAFTA and the Iran agreement. He is a man lacking in depth and mostly ruled by prejudice and the will for self-preservation. He is negativity personified.

How long will all this last? Trump has made the early mistake, which could cost his presidency, of dismissing FBI director James Comey. As a result, the Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russia’s interference in the last presidential election.

The investigation is wide-ranging and almost open-ended. Mueller is takinghis time and expanding his enquiry. Trump, with justification, is fearful of its consequences and has shown signs of being tempted to terminate Mueller’s appointment which would bring about extremely serious repercussions on him and his administration.

Prominent American politicians (even among Republicans) doubt his fitness as president. Some others are thinking of impeaching him. His close ally and friend Steve Bannon has publicly stated that the chances of Trump surviving the full first term are about 30 per cent.

In the days of the McCarthy witch-hunt of suspected Communists in the US of the 1950s a prominent editor said: “McCarthy was finished long before the hearings [of the House Committee on Un-American Activities] began… It wasn’t because he had become too daring and taken to fooling around… It was simply and plainly that most of America was sick of him.”

Substitute ‘McCarthy’ with ‘Trump’ and ‘America’ with ‘the world’ and you have today’s situation clearly depicted.