Trump's 'petulant' new outburst exposes how 'powerless' he now feels

President Donald Trump is feeling increasingly "powerless," and according to a new piece from MS NOW, his latest "petulant" policy outbursts reflect his desire "to lash out and attempt to exert control" in response to that feeling.

Writing for the outlet on Saturday morning, reporter Hayes Brown argued that Trump's staff is too overstaffed with "spineless sycophants" for anyone to have told him that his executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" in response to stalled trade talks with Canada. Aside from his staff's willingness to praise and move fast to implement just about any bad idea that the president has, Brown also argued that the situation exposes other things about the state of affairs for Trump.

"Let’s start with Trump’s obsession with branding," Brown wrote. "He spent much of his career appending 'Trump' to buildings he didn’t build in lucrative licensing deals. In this second term as president, he’s fought to add his name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Much like the 'Gulf of America' executive order on his first day back in office, Thursday’s order feels like a desperate attempt at getting his followers to associate 'America' with 'Trump.'"

He added: "Trump also tends to lash out and attempt to exert control when he feels most powerless. Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford decided to stand 10 toes down against U.S. negotiators in the face of looming tariffs, rejecting an overwhelmingly unbalanced offer from the American representatives. In response, Trump ordered the government to provide a bandage for his wounded ego, even as he likely views this order as a power move reestablishing his dominance over Ottawa."

Furthermore, Brown explained the third and final thing Trump exposed about himself: his tendency to become "deeply frustrated whenever he can’t force everyone to follow him." This frustration will continue to fester, however, as Canadian leaders like Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have refused to accept the name change under any circumstances, and have the strong backing of the Canadian public to continue pushing back against Trump's bullying tactics.

"Trump could decide Lakes Huron, Erie and Superior will be called Lakes MAGA, Donald and Trump on American maps, and it wouldn’t shift Carney’s stance a centimeter. (Lake Michigan, which shares the name of a swing state and is entirely inside the U.S., is probably safe.)," Brown added. "And, importantly, an updated map will be small comfort to the Americans who associate the high price of goods like toilet paper with Trump’s overly domineering approach to the (former dominion) of Canada."

He concluded: "This name change is more insulting than threatening, more inane than likely to spark a new round of trade talks. The only way Trump’s move could hurt Canada is if Carney hurts himself laughing at the impotence it suggests. There’s simply no way for the administration to rebrand this trade war as anything but a loss — except maybe (maybe) for mapmakers hoping to cash in on the change."