WWTD? Predictable Moves and the Pattern we Kept Ignoring

WWTD (“What would Trump do”) is no longer a hypothetical. It is a pattern of behaviour repeated so consistently that its outcomes are now predictable. These moves (30 in total) are not a list of scandals, but a behavioural map showing how power is pursued, accountability is avoided, and chaos is reframed as success.

WWTD is not about personality. It is about reflex

These are not isolated incidents, nor are they random flaws of temperament. They are repeated responses to predictable pressures. The overlap is deliberate. WWTD is not ideology or impulse, but a limited set of behaviours deployed again and again as circumstances change.

WWTD? Predictable Moves

Pattern 1: Reality Management (When facts threaten narrative)

• When challenged by facts: Dismiss them. Repeat the lie. Louder.
• When caught lying: Attack the person who noticed.
• When facts contradict feelings: Choose feelings.
• When truth is inconvenient: Call it fake. Repeat until sticky.
• When history records events: Rewrite it, then accuse others of doing so.

Pattern 2: Institutional Erosion (When systems resist personal power)

• When institutions resist: Call them corrupt. Undermine trust.
• When courts intervene: Impugn the judges.
• When investigations begin: Question legitimacy. Delay relentlessly.
• When laws obstruct ambition: Float ignoring them. Gauge reaction.
• When democracy constrains power: Question the result.

Pattern 3: Responsibility Avoidance (When leadership is required)

• When responsibility appears: Deny involvement. Blame predecessors.
• When advised by experts: Question loyalty, not evidence.
• When advised to de-escalate: Do the opposite. Publicly.
• When chaos follows: Declare it intentional.
• When outcomes are unclear: Announce victory anyway.

Pattern 4: Power Retention (When authority is threatened)

• When consequences arrive: Fundraise off them.
• When accused of corruption: Claim persecution.
• When supporters act violently: Distance rhetorically. Encourage emotionally.
• When rhetoric causes harm: Deny intent. Refuse accountability.
• When power slips: Cling. Litigate. Delay.

Pattern 5: Ego and Performance (When restraint would help)

• When praise is absent: Manufacture it. Quote himself.
• When criticised: Personalise. Nickname. Escalate.
• When allies express concern: Test obedience. Punish hesitation.
• When confronted with complexity: Reduce it to a slogan.
• When leadership requires restraint: Perform dominance instead.
• When norms constrain behaviour: Break them. Call it strength.
• When rules apply equally: Argue they were written for someone else.
• When unity is required: Divide strategically.
• When silence would help: Tweet.
• When all else fails: Flip the board. Claim victory anyway.

You could almost play bingo with this list.

A drinking game, however, would be reckless. The pattern is too dense.

WWTD? Claim victory anyway

It’s like playing chess with a pigeon. The rules never mattered. The pieces end up on the floor. The board is fouled beyond recognition. And somehow, amid the mess, the pigeon struts, chest puffed, declaring itself the winner. This isn’t strategy or strength; it’s disruption followed by self-congratulation. The tragedy wasn’t that the board was knocked over – it was that so many spectators applauded and called it leadership.

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