In 1988, as general counsel of Continental Airlines, I was part of the team that sold the Eastern Airlines shuttle to Donald Trump. The transaction shed light on the kind of president Trump would be.

In 1988, Texas Air Corp., which owned both Eastern and Continental, approached Trump with a proposal to buy the Eastern Shuttle. Sensing that Trump was emotionally driven to acquire high-profile New York assets, Texas Air priced the shuttle at $400 million, twice what it was worth.

When Trump came back with a $300 million counter offer, I advised Eastern's general counsel, Barry Simon, who was leading the negotation, to take it quickly, before Trump did the analysis that would show he was still overpaying by $100 million.

I needn't have worried. Trump was a transparent negotiator, and not interested in facts or analysis. Barry knew he was desperate for the deal. He told Trump that we were insulted by his offer and were terminating the discussions. Trump quickly raised his bid to $365 million, which we accepted.

This was three times the value allocated to the shuttle when Texas Air had acquired Eastern two years earlier, and about $150 million more than its revenues could support at the time.

Two years later, after recording $128 million in losses, Trump defaulted on the loans used to pay the purchase price and turned the shuttle over to his banks. He blamed his losses on the economy, after claiming, without basis, that his competitor Pan Am was unsafe. He never acknowledged that he had overpaid.

In 1997, nine years after Trump bought the Shuttle, the banks sold it to US Air for $285 million.

I was general counsel of Delta Air Lines during President Obama's first term, and met frequently with senior administration and State Department officials who worked closely with Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. They were clear about the decision process she established. She was thoroughly prepared for every meeting, cautious in reaching decisions, focused on long-term consequences, respectful of the views of others, and willing to change or adjust her position on the basis of new facts or better analysis.

By contrast, Trump's negotiating position in the shuttle transaction was based on ego and emotion, to the exclusion of facts and analysis, and it led to disaster for him and his organization. Unfortunately, his behavior during this year's campaign shows him to be the same executive now that he was in 1988.

An executive of this kind in the White House would create risks our country can't afford.

Ben Hirst, of Woodland, is a retired airline executive.