Newport Manners & Etiquette: Mr. Trump's Bad Manners
Didi Lorillard, GoLocalProv Manners + Etiquette Expert
Newport Manners & Etiquette: Mr. Trump's Bad Manners
Q. It is hard to resist not poking fun of Mr. Trump’s lack of manners, but his behavior is so terribly upsetting that others must be as appalled as I am! As American’s Number One Role Model, how do we stop him from taking a sledge hammer to etiquette? We see photos of the president pointing as though his hand is a pointing gun! Then he’s rubbing his eldest daughter’s pregnant belly in a formal photo, how tacky is that?
Being greeted by the Obamas, on his way into the White House after the inauguration, he leaves his wife in the car as though he’s forgotten who he came with! When Mrs. Trump (who had the gall to plagiarize one of Mrs. Obama’s speeches) is finally let out of the car, she is carrying a sloppily prepared gift for the Obamas. The Obamas politely covered for Mr. Trump’s rudeness by escorting Mrs. Trump into the White House. By the way, shouldn’t the Trumps have had the Obamas’ present wrapped in the Tiffany paper and not just handed her an unwrapped box? Shouldn’t Mr. Trump have escorted his wife into the White House?
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAnd when Mr. Trump is seated with Mrs. Trump, he really shouldn’t put his back to his wife. Don’t you agree, Didi?
–Name Withheld
A. Mr. Trump’s ultimate exhibition of bad manners is his failure to share with the rest of America his tax returns. He is saying either that we don’t deserve to know about them or that he has something to hide.
Both are marks of disrespect for the people whom he governs.
Yes, dear reader, and to illustrate your complaint about the Trumps’ manners, here are some photos starting with Mr. Trump pretending that he has a gun. It’s the use of the index finger that is the supreme indicator of bad manners. When you are trying to make a point you should avoid looking as though you are aiming a gun or otherwise threatening your audience, be it a single individual or a packed room.
Moreover, the protocol would have been that Mrs. Trump’s people should have let Mrs. Obama’s people know in advance that she was bringing a gift, in order for them to have a prepared reciprocal gift for the Trumps. As it appears, the Obamas were put slightly off-guard, but, of course, it was the Trumps who were humiliated.
In this latest photo of the Trumps departing for Palm Beach this past weekend, Mr. Trump proceeds Mrs. Trump up the air-stairs into Air Force One, but shouldn’t Mr. Trump have let her climb up ahead of him so that he could be there to catch her in case one of Mrs. Trump’s high heels got caught and she stumbled? Shouldn't a president also be a gentleman?
~Didi Lorillard researches manners and etiquette at NewportManners. Please, send other observations of the Trumps’ bad manners, along with any photos if possible, and we will include them. However, please, no photos of the Trump children or grandchildren. Thank you!
Trump's Win - What Does it Mean for Rhode Island?
Jennifer Duffy
Cook Report
"We don't really know what a Trump presidency means for the nation, never mind the smallest state. One of the unintended consequences of last night's results is that Sen. Jack Reed won't be chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Chalk that up as a loss for RI."
Pam Gencarella
Head of Ocean State Taxpayers' Association
"Trump’s win means that his signature issue, illegal immigration, could have a big impact on RI, hopefully reversing our course as a sanctuary state and saving the state taxpayer millions of dollars. While we agree with his 'repeal and replace' Obamacare stance, we have no idea what that means to the RI debacle known as UHIP. It is not a stretch to believe that federal funding for this kind of system will be off the table so, will RI be stuck with this massively expensive system that still doesn’t work and that is expected to cost another $124 million to fix?
Trump's belief that there is significant fraud in the Food Stamp program and the policies that may come from that belief could have a negative impact on RI's local economy since there are businesses in certain cities that rely heavily on this program, fraud and all. On the upside, we may be able to ditch the UHIP program if there is significantly less need for processing welfare program requests (ie. Medicaid and food stamps) resulting from fewer illegal immigrants and less fraud. While we are ambivalent about his touted child care policies, if enacted, it may force our legislators to revisit the ever growing state cost of subsidies in this area and possibly reduce the fraud and abuse in this system."
Kay Israel
Professor at Rhode Island College
"With a Republican President and Congress, Rhode Island will probably be excluded from the 'fruits of victory."
The congressional delegation will be able to vocally make their presence felt, but in the long term it's more symbolic than substantive.
For Rhode Island it's a matter of holding on and waiting until '18 or '20 and a surge in Democratic influence."
Jennifer Lawless
Professor at American University
"The RI congressional delegation just became even less powerful than it was. With unified government, Trump doesn’t need to quell Democrats’ concerns or acquiesce because he’s worried about a Democratically-controlled Senate.
His appointments will reflect that. His executive orders will affect that. And the conservative policy agenda he puts forward will affect that."
Len Lardaro
Professor at University of Rhode Island
"Well there's a few things -- because there's not going to be gridlock, that's a big difference if it had been Hillary and a GOP Congress, in which nothing would got done. We'll at least get a half a billion in infrastructure that's going to pass which will have an impact.
I think you'll see there will be reduced reliance on government nationally -- and that's where we'll stick out like sore thumb. We've relied way too much on government -- and our government is highly inefficient and ineffective. Maybe, just maybe, in this who cycle of things we might be forced to be small and more efficient for once.
A couple of other things -- interest rates jumped. The one to follow is the ten year government bond rate -- which is tied to mortgages. It went from 1.7% to 2.05% in one day. The point is -- if the ten year stays high, mortgage rates will start going higher -- and in the short time people will run to re-finance.
That's the short term impact -- but then if rates stay hight, that will make mortgages more out of reach. And we just passed a bond issue to limit open space -- housing has limited upside here.
The next thing -- the Fed Reserve will go ahead with tightening next month. A strong dollar will hurt manufacturing. When the dollar is strong our exports become more expensive overseas.
Our goods production sector -- manufacturing and construction -- in the near term will do a little better, but as time goes on will be more limited. But something you won't hear, is there are lags in fiscal policy, of six months to year. So we won't really see the effects until the third our fourth quarter of 2017, going into 2018."
Mike Stenhouse
RI Center for Freedon and Prosperity
"As the unbelievable turned into reality this morning, it struck me that the presidential election was not really all about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was about a fed-up people, revolting against a corrupt system - the "beast" - that relentlessly favors insiders. Hillary personified the beast, while Donald personified the slayer.
Sadly, based on election results in our state, Rhode Island's version of the beast lives on. I fear our political class has not learned the lessons from the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump movements - and will continue with their government-centric, anti-family, anti-business status quo."
Kristina Contreras Fox
VP of Young Democrats of America
"A Trump Presidency means the validation of the ugliest part of America. In RI, as with the rest of the country, the hammer of his hatred will fall hardest on minority communities. Being a blue state doesn't make us immune from this danger.
Trump won over 35% (39.5) of the vote here! We need to look in the mirror, and not lie about what the reflection shows us. No more hiding underneath a blue blanket. I expect those who claim Democratic values to be true to those values. The gulf between words and actions have turned into fertile ground for Trump's message to grow here in RI. If you call yourself a Democrat, if you claim to stand in opposition to Trump, now is the time to prove it. Show up and fight back."
