Donald Trump might not have read much of Niccolò Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” but he certainly agrees with the philosopher’s 16th-century counsel that it’s better for a statesman “to be impulsive than cautious” if he wants to hold power. That impulsiveness was on display last year when the president pushed the Texas state legislature to gerrymander its electoral maps before the midterms in the hope of maintaining Republican control of Congress. And it was on display this year when Trump seized an opportunity to wipe out the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

© Washington Post