Over the weekend there were articles written about Trump’s chaos management style. Habberman continues the thread of her recent reporting that Trump is feeling comfortable and emboldened in his role, which is leading him to be bullish on Mueller. Some aids are saying “that Mr. Trump does not understand the job the way he believes he does, and that they fear he will become even less inclined to take advice.”
Here is Jonah Goldberg in National Review crowing a bit about how Trump-skeptic-supporters argued last year that Trump would be guided (contained) by the “adults” around him–no more.
And Coppins in The Atlantic about Trump sowing chaos by applying Reality TV rules to the White House: “It is about his authority—and there is little Trump loves more than performing authority.”
Shortly after Trump called Putin to congratulate him for his recent election win, the White House leaked that Trump had briefing notes that said in all caps DO NOT CONGRATULATE.
This David Graham speculation sums up why trying to stay informed about what is really going on is so crazy making in the Trump era. First there is news that Trump called Putin to congratulate him on his election win, and he did not raise concerns over the recent attack in England or 2016 election meddling. Next there are reports about the DO NOT CONGRATULATE briefing notes. Then there are reports that White House aids, Kelly in particular, are rattled and outraged by the leak. Graham speculates that it is convenient that the story was moved from Trump being uncritical of Putin (yet again) to a story about Trump staffing and leaks. Is it possible someone (Kelly, Trump himself?) leaked the cards to change the story? Who knows?
On Thursday Trump replaced national security advisor McMaster with John Bolton. This was a more orderly process than firing Tillerson since he called McMaster hours before the announcement, and McMaster has been planning his exit for some weeks because stories of his relationship with Trump was undercutting his ability to do his job.
Still the move is being characterized as a “snap decision” because aids thought the change would not happen for several weeks. CNN reported that the sudden change was made in part to wrestle news cycle away from two women doing interviews with week about affairs they had with Trump: Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford.
Michael Gerson suggests a simpler explanation: “In this case, an aide close to the president is expressing panic. He or she cannot explain the hold that Putin has over Trump. This leak is a cry for help from within the White House itself.”
Three good pieces about the implications of Bolton and Pompeo joining the team. Peter Baker writes about Bolton’s history as a hawk and how the Bush team soured on him in the second term.
David Sanger writes: “Mr. Bolton’s ascension to national security adviser, replacing Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, creates the most radically aggressive foreign policy team around the American president in modern memory.”
Greg Jaffe has some tidbits about how McMaster was usually rebuffed by Mattis, with the implication that there will be a new dynamic Mattis will have to navigate with Bolton.
On Friday Trump threw Washington into a few hours of chaos. His White House had worked with Congress to pass a 1.3 trillion spending bill to keep the government funded; he saw push back on FOX news and tweeted a veto threat, taking everyone by surprise. It seems everyone from Paul Ryan to Mattis had to get involved to walk Trump back. He did sign it but only after complaining that it was a terrible bill, that he was forced into it, and that he will never sign a bill like this again.
In Russia news:
Trump assailed Robert Mueller by name in his tweets for the first time. Sunday, several Republicans from McCain to Graham to Paul Ryan went on record urging the investigation to continue “unimpeded.”
Vox has a useful explain of the several powerful factors that is keeping Trump from firing Mueller.
Trump’s lead lawyer John Dowd resigned Thursday because he disagreed with the President’s decision to sit down with the Mueller team for an interview. His replacement “the former United States attorney in Washington, Mr. diGenova has been on television in recent years more than he has been in court.”
There was news about how the Trump campaign did guide Papadopoulos more than previously known.
And the Daily Beast reported that Guccifer 2.0, who hacked the DNC emails, was a Russian intelligence official. If accurate, this takes meddling of 2016 election to Putin’s desk for the first time.
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Trump’s Job Approval: 40.7%