Reporters in search of the heart of Trumpism often travel to places such as York, Pa., or Youngstown, Ohio. Unfortunately, the true ethos of the Trump White House is not found in the factory towns of the industrial Midwest, but in the see-and-be-seen power-lunch spots of Manhattan. “The Mooch” may have quickly come and gone, but Moochism remains a guiding force of Trump’s presidency — a New York-centric worldview that values deals over details, and equates wealth and celebrity with wisdom.

The ouster of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci and the arrival of retired Marine Corps general John Kelly as chief of staff may obscure, at least temporarily, that fundamental reality. But the past six months have made clear that, in the Acela corridor’s balance of power, Manhattan’s Masters of the Universe have triumphed over Washington’s policy wonks and Boston’s academics.

(Jesse Mesner-Hage,Dalton Bennett,Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

And with all due respect to my friends in the 10022, therein lies many of President Trump’s troubles. Perhaps the worldview of the now-defunct Four Seasons Grill Room was suited for dominating New York’s media and real estate circles, but it is proving horrible for making things work in Washington. Three core views of the Midtown mind-set in the Trump White House illustrate the point.

●Policy is for losers; winners do deals. The single biggest problem that the Trump administration has had in advancing its agenda is a disdain for policymaking and in-the-weeds expertise. Policymaking seems too nerdy, too wonky, too boring for the president and his “only the best” people. Team Trump loves dealmaking instead.

Thus, it’s no surprise that Trump’s inner circle is filled with dealmakers — Gary Cohn, Steven Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Rex Tillerson and, most of all, Trump’s wheeler-dealer son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner’s overstuffed portfolio — which makes no sense to anyone experienced in government — can be understood only as a series of deals he is supposed to close: a Middle East peace agreement, a trade deal with Mexico, some sort of bargain with China. The fact that he knows virtually nothing about any of these things is irrelevant in Trumpworld: He’s a deal guy, and, hey, there are deals to be done.

The problem is that in government, policy actually matters. You can’t achieve the “art of the deal” unless you know the parts of the deal. Even presidents famous for not sweating the details — Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, for instance — knew their stuff on their key priorities (tax reform and education policy, respectively). No sentence will ever capture Trump’s “policy doesn’t matter” mind-set more than his iconic “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Well, actually, Mr. President, every person who had ever studied it with any rigor did.

● Only the “big guys” matter. This second Trump characteristic comes straight from the power-lunch crowd: If you aren’t a “name,” you don’t count. Virtually all of Trump’s in-depth interactions as president have been with corporate chief executives, four-star generals and celebrities. His economic policy has largely consisted of trying to get hiring promises out of some of the largest U.S. companies.

Successful presidents in both parties have learned, however, that there is wisdom outside the famous names. Look at Trump’s recent “big-name” job creation event in Wisconsin: Small businesses and entrepreneurs in that state will create four times as many jobs each year as a new Foxconn factory. But Trump has done virtually nothing to embrace such un-famous job creators or to explore ways to encourage their work.

● If you aren’t rich, you aren’t smart. Trump has openly boasted that he trusts only the rich to formulate economic policy. And it’s obvious that Trump accords special respect for the wealthiest members of his team — Cohn, Mnuchin and Ross, in particular. It may explain why Trump has sloughed off the expertise of the men and women of the intelligence community, agency policy shops and the Congressional Budget Office. In the Trump mind-set, if public servants aren’t rich or famous, how could they really be smart?

(Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

Team Trump does not understand that public servants, community activists, nonprofit leaders and policy wonks have critical contributions to make in policy formation, even if they don’t have the biggest bank accounts or the fanciest threads. (If you’re still trying to puzzle out how the catastrophically unfit Scaramucci could temporarily be named White House communications director, there’s your answer.) Representatives and senators also have a lot of policy expertise and insights — and, if nothing else, more votes on a president’s legislative agenda than anyone in the Hamptons or Sun Valley.

This is not to say that New York’s finest cannot be great contributors in Washington: In both my stints in the White House, some of the savviest, most devoted, most effective senior officials came from New York’s elite. But what these successful White House aides all shared was an appreciation for how much policy details mattered and how important it was to bring diverse voices and experiences to the table — all sadly missing among Trump’s dealmaking coterie.