Story highlights Michael D'Antonio: President Trump's latest political blunders signal he is deeply conflicted about his own competence

Trump has admired military men from a young age, so it makes sense that he trusts Gen. Kelly, D'Antonio writes

Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success" (St. Martin's Press). The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) President Trump's turn toward a general who radiates a calm sense of command signals he is truly distressed. North Korea's missile tests, massive legislative failures and record-low poll numbers would rattle anyone, but must surely be worse for a man whose constant claims to confidence and success suggest that he is, in fact, deeply conflicted about his own competence.

In addition, for a man who prizes loyalty and surrounds himself with family instead of those with policy expertise, Donald Trump's elevation of John Kelly to a position in which Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will report to him instead of directly to the President further speaks to a sense of inner panic. A respected Marine Corps general, Kelly is expected to bring order to a White House that is perhaps the most chaotic and dysfunctional in history but is so burdened by infighting and intrigue that officials generally avoid uttering obvious truths, except when they leak to reporters.

Michael D'Antonio

Given his limited public persona, on the other hand -- which consists of little more than brags, insults and crude observations -- Donald Trump's true moods and motives can be difficult to discern. Trump can seem like a human sound system with the volume set so high every note just sounds like noise.

With so much dissonance, one bizarre week in the Trump presidency can blend into another and eventually they all seem the same. They are not. Last week stands apart: sexual innuendo in a speech to Boy Scouts, urging police to rough up suspects, suddenly barring military service for transgender Americans, revolving-door turmoil in the West Wing. It all points to a President/performer who knows he is losing his audience and can't figure out how to give them what they want.

When pressed to the edge of panic, Trump will modify his behavior. In the 1990s, for example, he became a quieter, less braggadocious Trump when his casinos went bankrupt and his airline business failed. The first sign that Trump was in panic mode last week came as he brought Anthony Scaramucci onto the stage, naming him White House communications chief. In Italian theater, a scaramuccia is a menacing court jester who inevitably falls from grace and Trump's jester fit the archetype perfectly, ousting Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus before -- in a stunning bit of political theater, "The Mooch" and his profane, on-the-record tirade became a bigger laughingstock than the men at whom he had aimed his blade.

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