If there has been one thing that has marked Trump’s presidency, it has been his ignorance of the world around him, and the job he’s supposed to be doing. Constantly Trump is making public statements that have to be countered with a statement by someone else in the White House. At other times, he has to go completely back on what he has said once he finds out it’s politically impossible to do, or just simply irresponsible and reckless.

What remaining supporters he has, often make terrible excuses for him. When he completely contradicts himself or goes back on his promises, they use a line similar to: “He’s playing 12-dimensional chess.” This supposedly means that he is making these contradictory acts on purpose. In their minds, he’s acting in such an irrational way as a tactic to leadership – not as a manifestation of his incompetence. They truly believe that his political blundering is deliberate, “to keep opponents guessing.”

Trump promised an import tariff on China due to the allegation that the country is engaged in currency manipulation. The very idea of such an act is wholly abhorrent to the entire commodities import industry. Such a move would devastate retail stores who would face drastically increasing prices of goods. As it is, the US currently imports $462.8 billion worth. Even a 5% import tariff would increase the cost of these goods by $23.14 billion. It would be a burden that would be transferred to the consumer. An increase in the cost of goods and services to that degree would lead to a dramatic drop in sales.

Just recently US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was charged with carrying out negotiations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) behind closed doors. The situation between the two countries is not a going well. The DPRK has maintained its right to build nuclear weapons for deterrence against US imperialism, while the US has repeatedly threatened them for it. The US has found it simply unacceptable that anyone should be able to live outside their control.

As Tillerson has been attempting to carry out negotiations, Trump took to Twitter to say that Tillerson was wasting his time and personally insulted Kim Jong Un, the Supreme Leader of the DPRK. As the man fourth in line for the presidency is attempting to negotiate a hostile situation, he insulted the man he was negotiating with. Trump is sabotaging his own efforts to broker some kind of peace deal with the DPRK. This, it has been claimed, is another example of his “12-dimensional chess”.

Now on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Puerto Rico’s debt should be wiped out. It is said that there is $75 billion owed to Puerto Rican bondholders. When Trump made this statement, Wall Street saw it as a potential $75 billion in failed investments. Multiple investment banks would be taking a tremendous hit from such a move. The value of Puerto Rican bonds began to crash. Obligation bonds dropped from 56 cents on the dollar to just 36 cents early on Wednesday. The situation was saved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney. He took to the media to assure bondholders that no such policy was fourth coming from the White House.

“I wouldn’t take it word for word with that,” OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN. “We are not going to deal right now with those fundamental difficulties that Puerto Rico had before the storm.”

Added Mulvaney: “Puerto Rico’s going to have to figure out how to fix the errors that it’s made for the last generation on its own finances.”

Trump seems to have no concept of what he’s doing or the power his words have on the economy. His whole persona is to simply say whatever is on his mind regardless of the consequences. This kind of irresponsibility is simply unacceptable from someone who holds the highest office in the land. Trump is wholly ignorant of what he is saying and what he is doing.

Despite these terrible blunders, the supporters of Trump simply cannot accept that they have made a terrible choice in voting for him. They adamantly refuse to acknowledge the depth of his incompetence. Instead, they delude themselves into thinking there is some kind of secret game going on that makes sense behind closed doors. They believe that Trump is infallible. So, if what Trump is doing seems nonsensical and self-defeating, then there must be a secret plan. This speaks only to the lack of intellectual integrity of Trump’s followers.

There is no 12-dimensional chess, Trump is simply ignorant of his position as president of the United States.