“As I get older,” a colleague said as we drove together to work, “I’m realizing more and more that everything comes down to trust.”

In “The Speed of Trust,” Stephen M.R. Covey argues that trust-building behaviors fall into two categories: character and competence. Many supporters and most opponents agree that President Trump falls short on character. Most of his supporters, however, trust his competence because of his business successes, believing that this competence will propel him towards making transformational change.

Ten days ago, President Trump signed an executive order restricting travelers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from coming into the United States for three months, and suspending the refugee program for four months. The implementation of this order has sharpened disagreements about the wisdom of this approach.

Critiques of the order’s implementation, however, have come from all corners of the political spectrum. The president signed the order five days into his presidency without, according to Jonah Goldberg (1) getting guidance from his “secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, on the grounds that this was a need-to-know operation requiring secrecy.” No plan was put in place to manage logistics or to “sell” the order to the U.S. citizens and to those from other countries. Rachel Marsden (2) summarized the general contempt of this implementation as follows:

“Whoever implemented Trump’s order to temporarily ban `immigrants and nonimmigrants` from seven Muslim-majority countries … from entering the U.S. should be drop-kicked into a black hole.”

The results of President Trump’s failure to trust two of his appointees and unwillingness to think through the possible implications of this order were predictable. Mass confusion about implementation. Green-card holders caught up in the mess. Iraqis who had assisted the US military at great risk to their own safety detained. Conflicting court orders. Chaos at airports inconveniencing passengers and airline employees. Increasingly rowdy demonstrations. Proclamations from ISIS and other terrorist groups that we hate Muslims.

Sad.

What would a board of directors say if confronted with a seasoned CEO with clear character flaws who botched the roll-out of an important product or service because of similar basic mistakes?

“You’re fired!”

(“But to keep you quiet, we’ll give you a nice severance package.”)

But we can’t fire President Trump two weeks into his presidency.

Since most of us will never trust President Trump’s character because of his campaign’s scorched-earth tactics, sleazy business practices, and his treatment of women, strengthening our perception of his competence is the only path for him to hold onto power, for if our trust in his competence continues to slip, the Republican leadership will unceremoniously kick him into a corner.

My unsolicited advice for the president to assist him to increase our trust in his competence?

Abandon Bannon.

(1) http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-goldberg-bannon-way-20170131-story.html

(2) http://townhall.com/columnists/rachelmarsden/2017/02/01/trumps-immigration-ban-undermined-by-failed-logistics-n2279534