I'm not going to say Trump is dumb. He's very good at a specific type of PR that's worked for him his whole life. But he doesn't understand the real leadership required for the current job. Perfect summary from Dave Winer:
The two things (this demonstrates) he doesn't get about actual leadership:
1) It is actually possible to lead everyone. You can unite everyone to a common purpose, even if you frame it in terms of fighting against a common foe.
2) You have to accept that you don't know everything, trust your specialists, and take their advice. Not always, but most of the time.
Suppose Trump were a brilliant political strategist. On hearing of how awful the virus was, in January, he would have thought to himself, "I just won re-election." How could that be you ask? Simple. He waits a bit until it's obvious to the press that it's an emergency then he gives a big Oval Office speech announcing the emergency and what we're going to do. It's exactly what the CDC says to do. "This is going to hurt," Trump reads off the teleprompter, "but we'll get through it together." Then guess where his approval rating would be? 95%. Because that's how it works. We rally behind the leader in a time of crisis, even a douchebag like Trump. Who is more dumb than a sack of nails. I'm sure one of his advisors saw this as a political gift. All Trump had to do was listen.
The two things (this demonstrates) he doesn't get about actual leadership:
1) It is actually possible to lead everyone. You can unite everyone to a common purpose, even if you frame it in terms of fighting against a common foe.
2) You have to accept that you don't know everything, trust your specialists, and take their advice. Not always, but most of the time.