Although Donald Trump is often correct in pointing out problems facing the nation, all too many of his “solutions” make the problem even worse. Part of the reason for this is that Trump has several operating patterns that can’t help but make matters worse, which is why many of his solutions may come to haunt him.

His first generally unhelpful pattern is to look for an apparently simple solution to a problem and immediately attempt to implement that solution, without looking carefully at the situation, especially for longstanding problems, such as the foreign trade balance, immigration, excessive federal spending, education, and, of course, Iran.

The second pattern that magnifies the first is to find a person or people to blame when matters don’t go the way he thinks they should. It doesn’t matter whether the people blamed have any real connection to the problem, just that they’re somewhere near the problem… or that they’re someone Trump dislikes.

The reflecting pool mess is a good illustration. Trump identifies a real problem, that the reflecting pool has become unsightly and needs cleaning up. But does Trump bring in anyone who knows anything about the problems of fixing a stone structure unwisely built on what had originally been swampy ground? Hardly. He promises a fix, quotes an unrealistically low price, then contracts for repairs with an open budget and a 20% profit margin (i.e., cost plus budget) and gives the contract to a company with no track record in dealing with such problem facilities on a large scale, and which attempted to kill off the algae with hydrogen peroxide, not the best idea since hydrogen peroxide can, in certain conditions, act as a paint remover. Then, when matters go poorly, and sections of the coating come loose, Trump blames apparently non-existent vandals, berates the press for pointing out the lack of evidence for vandalism, and then says that it’s really the fault of previous administrations.

The questions facing Trump – and the US – are, first, if and when Trump will run out of plausible, but overly simplistic solutions and, second, when or if the American people will ever tire of the blame game and decide they want real and workable solutions.