Will Trump’s narcissism save us?

After the seismic political event that has more than a few of us spinning apocalyptic scenarios, we would be wise to admit that predictions about Trump (now prepend “President-Elect”) have time and time again veered sideways. Perhaps we can take comfort in that. The very act of prognosticating the worst will guarantee things will turn out the other way. He, after all, likes to stay unpredictable.

And unpredictable is what we got last Tuesday night. He (and his supporters) surprised us all. The unexpected has for many of us ushered angst and, in the extreme (in some cases for good reason), existential fear. We don’t know what to expect, or we think we know exactly what’s coming next.

I would like to propose a bitter balm to our fears: when it comes to Donald J. Trump, we can count on one thing as the handle for understanding him and even, perhaps, for predicting what kind of president we all got last Tuesday night.

We can count on his rampant narcissism to keep us safe and the nation on track.

Now, before you throw your reading digital device at me, ponder that point for a moment…

Will Donald Trump do anything that makes him look bad — not bad in terms of reputation, but bad as far as failure is concerned? Will he risk anything that doesn’t cast him in the shiniest light of a winner? Would charging windmills in an ill-fated attempt to completely upturn Washington DC and our governing system grant him the success he yearns for?

I put my hope in this Trumpian flaw. He must have good reason for preening, and achieving nothing or, worst, running into a wall of embarassing failure, won’t let him assume the pose. He will play ball with common sense Republicans, and he will want to make deals (good ones by his reckoning, of course) with Democrats to come out as the undeniable winner, the one worthy of our (even if reluctant) admiration.

Already, after talking it over with the president, we are seeing some willingness to not completely repeal the A.C.A. (a.k.a., “ObamaCare”) by preserving some of its key provisions. Poignant campaign talk about building a wall is also turning, it seems, into a metaphoric appeal for “border security.” Prior talk about a “deportation force” and “rapists,” etc., also has narrowed its scope to expelling the “bad hombres.” Can we expect more shifting and morphing in other policy areas?

Likely so. What self-promotional advantage, after all, would a President Trump derive in breaking all the China? That all depends on whether you think (a) his main driving motivation is to be a change agent, or (b) to look his very best while pretending to be one.

Yes, it counts as thin, bitter hope, but I am putting my chips on option (b). Before we dive headlong for keeps into weeping and gnashing of teeth, we might all want to consider “taking heart” in such “potential.