Donald Trump said he would not fire National Security Advisor Mike Waltz over the bungled classified phone conversation that included a reporter because he said that Waltz “had learned a lesson.”
In an NBC interview, Trump said, “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” in a March 25 phone interview.
So if Waltz has “learned a lesson” from this one mistake, why is it that Trump himself has never learned lessons from his numerous past mistakes?
Is Trump incapable of learning? Or does he like to repeat his colossal and visible past mistakes because he cannot change his behavior?
Maybe it is because of his confirmed clinical narcissism. That condition can prevent people from even admitting they have made a mistake.
Instead, when someone points out a mistake or irrational behavior, the narcissist will attack the person, pointing out the flaw or error. This is why Trump continually lashes out and attacks all of his critics, ranging from law firms to reporters to other politicians (Democrat and Republican), foreign leaders, and total strangers with disabilities. This is all part of Trump’s mental illness, which the media, pundits, and politicians are afraid to point out.
Here Is a List of Trump’s Past Mistakes
Trump fails to pay his bills. According to the site PublicOpinion, “Trump businesses have stiffed vendors before, including contractors that were left unpaid for more than $2.98 million after repairs at the Trump International Hotel. There was even a small-business owner who Trump stiffed out of $100,000 worth of pianos. Unpaid bills at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City amounted to $90 million. Liens were placed against Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel as a result of $5 million in contractor bills that were left unpaid.”
Trump’s companies have filed for bankruptcy at least six times. His other business failures include Trump Airlines, Trump casinos, Trump beverages, a Trump 
board game, Trump magazine, Trump mortgage, Trump steaks, Trump travel site, a Trump phone company, Trump Tower Tampa, Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump fragrances, Trump mattresses, Trump’s Truth Social.
Trump has been married three times and divorced twice. No other president has such a dismal relationship record.
Trump’s Repeat Offender Criminal Record. In 2023, Trump was found liable in civil cases for sexual abuse and defamation, and for business fraud, and in 2024, he was found guilty of falsifying business records, making him the first U.S. president convicted of a felony.
Repeated Failures in Foreign Affairs. “The Trump Administration negotiated the U.S. capitulation to the Taliban in the Doha agreement of February 2020.
“Trump conceded to the Taliban demand to exclude the Afghan government then in office from the talks — even though the United States had expended thousands of lives and spent trillions of dollars in supporting it.”
In 2018, Trump suddenly withdrew from the Iran nuclear monitoring deal and decided to impose maximalist sanctions on Iran. With no sanctions, “Iran resumed enrichment and is now far closer to developing a nuclear weapon. And Iran did not stop — but accelerated — support for its proxies and other malign behavior.”
Trump boasted that he would punish North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Of course, this never happened. Instead, Trump praised Kim and never had the summit with him that he boasted about.
In 2019, Trump decided to launch a maximal sanctions campaign against the regime of the Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro. Trump’s stated goal was to remove him from power. Nearly six years later, Maduro is still there
Trump boasted that he could end the Ukraine-Russia war “in a few hours” and that it never would have started if he was president, but of course, that never happened. Trump says he is buddies with Vladimir Putin, but the war is still going on.
The Bottom Line
As noted earlier, Trump has a case of confirmed clinical narcissism. He will never learn from his mistakes. So, when he says Waltz will learn, it’s an empty promise. Trump has assembled a Cabinet of cronies whose only qualification is unchallenged: blind loyalty to a group of MAGA fanatics following the Project 2025 blueprint that is intent on dismantling the US government at all levels.
