On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump created the greatest surprise in U.S. presidential history and I drank most of a $300 bottle of wine, the most expensive wine anyone ever gave me as a gift.

I had kept it for years waiting for that special occasion, and here it was.  A woman president, another historic election after the Obama victories, and best of all I knew the new president since 1995 and a trip to Belfast and was a huge fan.

On this day, Hillary Clinton won 3 million more votes than Donald Trump.

— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) November 8, 2017

Somewhere between Tallahassee and Milwaukee, the dream fell apart and poor people’s idea of a rich man who promised to drain the Washington swamp was elected.  I drained the wine bottle and the atmosphere in my house went from celebration to wake.

The signs must have been there but I missed them completely -- except for the last weekend when I had to admire Trump's manic energy flying from state to state while Hillary partied with A listers.

As reality sunk in I thought Trump in many ways had an incredible opportunity.  He was beholden to no one, the establishment Republicans loathed him and he was a former Democrat with New York Republican values which I thought would make him a centrist, able to work with both sides.

Read more: President Trump gets no credit for disrupting a failed system

It was an intriguing idea -- there is still enough middle ground in both parties to make most legislation pass, to fix Obamacare, pass infrastructure, reform the tax code in a fair way, and resolve the immigration issue. Trump as the dealmaker could make it happen.

That fantasy lasted as long as a New York minute.  His inauguration speech was a diatribe, dark, gloomy and downright nasty in parts. It was an appeal to the basest of his base, and that is where he has been ever since.

When a man talks about coal and fossil fuels coming back as a good thing then you seriously question his competency.  His arrogance is surpassed only by his ignorance. I doubt if he could find North Korea on a map, yet he threatens nuclear destruction there as if it is some war theory game.

After Trump's fiery speech aimed at Kim Jong Un, the U.S. and China announced deals valued at $9 billion https://t.co/OK1SEE51Gf

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 8, 2017

On every issue of substance -- health care, taxation, DACA, immigration -- he believes he can pass bills without any consensus from the other side. This has proven impossible so far, and Trump has utterly failed to offer a hand across the aisle to get the work done.

Little wonder his polls are plummeting, independents have abandoned him and only his hardcore remains supportive.

But look to Russia to move those numbers to even lower depths. It is treason to conspire with a foreign country to influence an American election. As special prosecutor Robert Mueller is finding out, a lot of guys who said they had not talked to the Russians about harmful information on Hillary were not telling the truth.

The parallels between Trump’s Russia scandal and Watergate are becoming more blatant: https://t.co/OVB9GLQBXV pic.twitter.com/RPRSeeft4O

— Slate (@Slate) November 8, 2017

The circle will just keep getting drawn closer.  But don’t be surprised if Trump pardons all his cronies and creates a constitutional crisis.

Trump’s presidency has now degenerated to the point where he is trying to force bills through that were written in secret with only days if not hours to vet them.

It is Trump as emperor, his way or the highway, yet his way has led so far to a legislative dead end and ratings so poor he is 22 points behind the next least popular president after a year. Ladies and gentlemen, the emperor has no clothes.

Read more: Tim Pat Coogan - Donald Trump is the greatest danger the world faces