Trump’s general counsel, Garten, defended the number of lawsuits. “Our philosophy is that we are a company of principle,” he said. “When we believe we are in the right, we are going to pursue the matter to the end. If that requires that we go to trial and present evidence to a jury, we are prepared to do so. We are not going to cave to pressure.”
But experts in the presidency and business say Trump’s record, including in courtroom disputes, raise questions about whether he has exhibited the leadership qualities that have distinguished the nation’s most successful presidents.
“Somebody like Lyndon Johnson was a guy who woke up in the morning studying the decisions and the hopes and the strengths and the weaknesses of all the people he had to influence,” said Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time. “For that, you need two traits I think Trump lacks: Number one, an attention to detail, and number two, you have to subordinate your own ego. I’ve seen nothing from Trump that suggests he has that capacity, and government is the art of compromise.”
Trump’s lack of government experience was a political advantage during the GOP primaries, reinforcing his status as an outsider vowing to shake up a dysfunctional Washington. But it threatens to be a liability in the general election. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last week, six in 10 voters said they had reservations about or were uncomfortable with Trump’s lack of experience in government or the military.
Even so, some of those who have sued Trump, been sued by him or otherwise been caught up in his legal wake, say they still may vote for him in November.
Philip Monnin represented his daughter, Miss Pennsylvania contestant Sheena Monnin, in a defamation suit Trump filed after she posted on Facebook that she thought the 2012 Miss USA Pageant was “rigged.” An arbitration ruling upheld by a federal judge ordered her to pay $5 million in damages, although she and Trump eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed lesser amount. Monnin, who lives in Michigan, said the suit demonstrated Trump’s bullying tactics and attempts to intimidate legal opponents.
But he doesn’t rule out voting for Trump for president. “Both sides have failed to bring satisfactory candidates,” he said in an interview. “I don’t think any of us in the family has decided what to do, and we have a lot of time to consider how to cast our votes.”
Contributing: David McKay Wilson, Karen Yi, John Kelly and Kevin McCoy