Sorry Ross! Trump has certainly not read your columns. He hates to read. And you are never on TV and Trump is always watching only TV. So never the twain shall meet. You are too erudite for him and his attention span is only long enough for short tweets.
6
"...or all I know he might have read my columns, or at least the headlines..." haha Trump read anything! Priceless!
5
We've had a wide assortment of presidents in our history--but not until now one that could literally go mad. We have seen undeniably that he exhibits evidence of mental disorder--the word salad aspect of his communication, bizarre mood swings, bellicosity, wild exaggerations, sexual improprieties, and more--that taken together bespeak this danger. I hope that among others with power, in the House, Senate, Supreme Court, the possibility of the president's slipping into psychosis is being considered and contingency plans made against that day.
7
Trump has outsourced his " presidency " to subcontractors. And we all know how that's worked out, in his previous " business ". SAD.
2
Looking at the overall effect on the leadership, the prestige, and indeed the dysfunction of the US government I think all of these analyses belie the question what is Trump is indeed Putin's Manchurian president because Putin has something one him? And I don't even mean the trivial stuff as in the Dossier but more serious stuff that perhaps, not Russia but Putin himself, on his finances? After all, money, money for himself and his family, is the only thing the Trump gives a hoot about.
5
In case Trump was not aware, *now* the world is laughing at America. It's amazing watching this disaster from afar (and Africa has its fair share of disasters).
5
There is there is something inherently disturbing about even contemplating the concept of deliberately electing someone you know is unsuitable in the hope that they will be constrained by some mythical someone.
8
Ross, we are so often on opposite sides of ideology, but lately I have grown to look forward to your columns as they have evolved and your writing is less bombastic and more reasoned. It is a wonderful surprise to be agreeing with you...ah centrism! That said...I hope you are able to write columns for, and get your points across to...the population that really really needs to witness your evolution so that they too might be guided into more reasoned thinking.
5
Is this the Douthat column where we see Ross begin the pivot from continuing to defend Trump to finally recognizing the president is out of control?
6
In Pennsylvania Mr. Trump did not deliver the voters. Congressional Republicans hate the tariffs. Trump is firing the conventional Republicans in his administration. In short, he is stiffing the Congressional Republicans who are no longer getting what they bargained for in exchange for protecting him. Should they stop protecting him and start protecting Mr. Mueller, it would also look as if they were doing the right thing for the right reasons. An unconstrained Trump might very well be Trump's undoing.
8
Trump seems to think that the role of president is akin to that of a manager of sports team: NBA, NHL, MLB. Too bad that there is not a stable on the White House grounds. Trump is a consummate horse trader.
2
Trump is just fulfilling his campaign promise of the "I alone can fix things". Now let's see what Trump unleashed and unconstrained really means. His authoritarian dictatorial abusive tendencies will be on full display. Buckle up and hurry up Mueller.
5
Ross, I guarantee that Trump has never read one of your columns. I don't know that he even reads his own tweets before he sends them...although given his self-absorption maybe the only things he ever reads are the tweets that he has already sent out...
4
I'm beyond deeply worried and well into terrified: Trump has finally overcome
his initial doubts, and now realizes that his intelligence and experience are sufficient to allow deeper insight into Presidential Problems than anyone else's AND that there is nothing but now vanquished norms to prevent him from surrounding himself only with advisors who recognize and acknowledge the analytical and intuitive genius of his solutions.
Literally.
Here is Peter Navarro, explaining his "function" as a Presidential advisor:
“This is the president’s vision. My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm his intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters".
And, least anyone misunderstand relationship of his advisors to the Most Intuitional Leader: "The owner, the coach, and the quarterback are all the president. The rest of us are all interchangeable parts.”
So here we are, it's taken a year to get there, but a narcissistic delusional Great Leader who tests all previous limits of the Dunning-Kruger effect is completing the process of surrounding himself with symphocants capable of boundless self-debasement, and clearly contemplating the benefits to be accrued from a Short Victorious War to validate his bonafides as a Wartime Leader.
6
It is hard to imagine that Trump's first year was one of "continament and constraint" as suggested by Mr. Douhat. What constraints prevented repeated lies and deceptions, abrogation of American leadership, offensive treatment of allies, appointment of unqualified political hacks to key agencies (Pruitt, the antienvironmentalist heading EPA), and nominating people without courtroom experience to be judges? How can this be considered a conventional Republican cabinet- DeVos, Carson, Perry? These are nincompoops who are ignorant of their subject areas. No, what we see is further degeneration of poor decision making, lack of decision making, and dishonesty, which continues to be abetted by the congressional Republicans, whose character and morality match that of Trump.
9
Given the degree of whiplash caused by DT reversing his stated stances so quickly, the notion that he is now somehow in control is exceedingly laughable.
7
Trump constrained has been a catastrophe. Trump unleashed would be armageddon. Trump is a know-it-all who knows absolutely nothing about anything and everything. The President needs to be managed? A five yr. old needs to be managed. He'll probably would stop watching only when all his TV mates gets to surround him.
3
Interesting how so many people still hate Donald Trump, like Ross Douthat. Trump wasn't contained during his first year -- he's been in charge the whole time. He is responsible for where we are now. Economically in great shape. Foreign policy-wise the same. Mostly success. Some failure, but no farce. No tragedy.
Critics remind me of Mark Twain and his view of Theodore Roosevelt. "Clearly insane". "The worst president in the history of the country". Really?
Certainly Donald Trump has his faults. But he also has his strengths, and they are formidable. Many of his critics just can't see beyond the glare of the faults to see some successes.
Ronald Reagan used to say that an economist is someone who sees something that works in practice and wonders if it would work in theory. Trump critics don't even bother to see what works, they just judge on theory.
Time to take the blinders off. Donald Trump may not be the figurehead that people would like to have. He's old, losing his hair, fat, and obnoxious. But he's also accomplishing a lot. He's in charge, and he will be for three more years. It will be interesting to see how history judges him.
1
"Let Trump be Trump." Democrats rejoicing over their local win in Pennsylvania should contain their joy and figure out a way to combat the marketing genius in the White House if they want to triumph nationally in November.
P.S. My definition of marketing is convincing someone to buy something they don’t particularly want, probably don’t need, and definitely will regret purchasing soon enough.
3
It felt like you were trying to navigate N.C. Central....the 68th ranked team in March Madness, through the tournament to an unexpected win at the end. This is our president....the worst choice to lead the country and our "hopes" and "ifs" to get him to the end of it....wherever that is.
1
This is what the trickle-downers and evangelicals voted for; it is clearly what they want to do to the rest of us. May the rest of us never forget, and never forgive.
7
"When Trump takes charge" . The title is like so many Trump comment trying to mislead the reader. It should have read: Trump progress toward a complete elimination of "free will" in his cabinet. The "rogue Autocracy" is slowly invading every institution of the government. Well... it seems to me from the result of the special election in Pennsylvania that the countdown of the Trump administration has begun.
4
The idea that a president of the United States has to be contained to minimize the possibilities of domestic and global catastrophe pretty much tells us that we've left the main highway far behind and are wandering in the desert without a GPS. Is the best thing history will say about this presidency is that we contained it?
Maybe it is.
10
The best we can hope for in the absence of Trump leaving office soon is a Congress that constrains him, denies his never-ending executive orders and ignores his disastrous tweets.
Trump seems to have confused "reality" TV with real life. He has pushed civility to its limits and beyond, firing people in public before informing them in private. Even Nixon was better than this.
3
"The King and The Land are One." Mr. Douthat, do you really think when the heart of that nation is rotted, this rot will not spread?
1
I'd like to see a Democratic Congress containing the President. Just saying.
1
Oh, Ross. How amusing that you discuss Trump as if he were an actual legitimate president, instead of a perverse and despicable criminal.
22
T. is keen on surrounding himself by a bunch of cronies and yes-men creating a de facto oligarchy with strong mafia innuendos.
6
Taking this President seriously, with any issue, is a false assumption. His weakness knows no bounds and that is the tragedy. His bloodless executions of Tillerson, Comey, McCabe, etc., are far worse than the endless and perverse, incessant diatribes towards Clinton or Obama. Trump relishes the power to eat his own. The yes men around him, or endless twitter pronouncements continue to offer nothing but hollow remarks from an empty and lost soul. The United States may have power, but we have no leadership. Russia knows this, and the UK knows this. And, the Trumpian Republican Party of billionaires will never be anguished or concerned about the state of our nation, only about themselves - like Trump. The sooner everyone, who is not a billionaire, figures this out, the better. The 17 year olds marching today are the soldiers of our democracy tomorrow, and they are not afraid. Why are we?
11
It is an insult to prior cabinet members to say this is a conventional Republican cabinet. This cabinet contains many people who have no qualifications to hold their positions. Also, it is probably by far the wealthiest cabinet ever.
5
With Mr. Trump I recall the lyric by Bob Dylan,
"When you think you've lost it all there's always more to lose.."
9
Unfortunately, when Trump acts, America gets hurt:
1. The budget deficit in fiscal year 2018 is expected to be around $833 billion per Trump's own OMB, up about 70% from the $487 billion CBO projected for that year at the time Trump was inaugurated.
2. The roughly 40 economists in the University of Chicago poll unanimously have told us that the tariffs are a bad idea, and that the tax cuts won't pay for themselves or grow the economy much at all.
3. Bloomberg has reported that only 15% of the corporate tax cuts are flowing to workers. With the tax cuts mainly for the rich, inequality will get much worse, and that is already the key challenge our economy faces.
4. Worse in 2017 than 2016: Wage growth, job growth, inflation, and health insurance coverage.
Contrast that with doing nothing and doing nothing looks pretty good.
10
The Romans used the daily events in the Coliseum to satisfy the mobs and the unemployed. We have Fox News that provides the same function...
10
Mr. Douthat suggests the Republican narrative on The Big Mistake has been "We can contain him, don't worry, and besides we'll get our big tax cuts", it will work out ok for us. Now, he says, Trump has slipped his leash, but let's wait and 'we'll see what happens'.
This is a bit too sanguine an analysis on a day when we learn Trump refuses to personally criticize Russia's complicity in the UK poisoning affair that resulted in the expulsion of 23 of Putin's agents. He drags his feet in imposing Congressionally mandated sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 election, and he uses the power of his office to harass and cause harm to those in government who disagree with him.
Trump has refused to disclose details of his financial situation; he refuses to divest himself of businesses that present a clear conflict of interest between himself and the public treasury. He attacks any effort to learn more about his financial relationship with Russians who have direct ties to and may be agents of the Russian government, all tied to its 'leader' Vladimir Putin.
Time's up. Stop looking the other way, Mr. Douthat. Do your duty as a journalist and an American citizen (presumably), and start asking questions instead of covering up.
10
I don't like Trump at all like most thinking people but... it seems to me like it would not be so bad to have him around for 3 more years, I have never seen the American public so engaged politically since the sixties and early 70's, some good will come out of this joke of a President.
6
The level of reality denying tripe used as cover in this article is outstanding. Even for the author, this stuff is a cut above. Forget normalizing Trump, as republicans have now perfected the art of normalizing blanket propaganda, and selling it as critical journalism. Ross, you seem to hate Trump so bad, that you're making he and the rest of the motley crew seem harmless in how you protest too much. Trump is a chaos storm and a terrible manager, but the other republicans mentioned have done as much to facilitate his madness as they have assisted his means and enjoyed the ends.
5
"It could be worse."
As a rallying cry for someone "doubtful" about Trump worst case scenarios, that is pretty feeble.
I am quite confident that history will judge Donald Trump the worst president of all time. But the news for the Republican Party is so much worse: at a time when the nation is getting browner not whiter, more urban and less rural, the Republican Party has turned tail and run headlong toward the most racist, xenophobic, fearful vision of America's past.
For two generations of voters, Millennials and Gen Z (or whatever), their vision of the Democratic Party will be Barack Obama. Their vision of the Republican Party? George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump. Good luck with that.
8
Frankly, I'm enjoying the creative destruction of Trump's "containment". President Trump has unintentionally sparked several social movements. If he were not elected president, these long simmering undercurrents may never have arisen with such coordination and force. #TimesUp is a decisive response from women across the nation and the world who are saying to each other and anyone who will listen, "If this clown can get elected president, what are we waiting for. Let's run for office and start taking charge." #MeToo is another important and profound movement that will only get stronger with time and courage and will gain traction throughout the world. The women are saying, "If this clown president can disrespect women and belittle and bully them, then what are we waiting for. He and his ilk are never going to change. Let's call his bluff. Let's challenge the notion of male privilege in the workplace, at home, and civil society." #MarchForOurLives is a powerful movement rising from a surprising source, young people. They are organized and speaking with intelligence and strength, " Fake sympathy, fake prayers, and no action is all we get from these elected clowns, the President, and the NRA. We refuse to be collateral damage to their 2nd Amendment absolutism. Enough is enough!"
10
Mr. Douthat, this is already a tragedy that could become catastrophic very quickly. Trump was hardly constrained by the GOP in the past fourteen months and now that he thinks he can "control" his job, the true nightmare has just begun. The GOP has not shown ANY inclination to censure him or reprimand him or even hold him accountable (for the most part, and when they do, it's a tiny majority that are quitting) for anything he says or does (or doesn't do). We need a good 12-16 years of a Democratically ruled federal government to undo all of the damage this Twidiot and his enabling GOP deplorables have caused to our democracy, and perhaps make some progress into the future for livable wage improvement, infrastructure upgrades/repairs, job training/tech school/college investment, healthcare, and Wall Street needs to be reigned in again, the list is endless at this point.
3
Mr. Douthat, when will you begin to call for Congress to change hands so we have a chance to stop this? If the Republicans did no go along with Trump, there would not be such urgency, but they appear to be willing to put up with whatever he does.
3
Hmmm. I find "it could be worse" to be not very reassuring. Especially since it is so often followed with "and it soon will be."
3
The dumpster fire of the Trumpster presidency will now burn even more intensely with more stench of corruption and malfeasence and clouds of acrid smoke to try and hide the incompetence. We are in for an even worse situation than we faced in the past 14 months, if that is possible.
As pointed out by Mr. Douthat, the loss of the saner members of the administration dumpster fire tenders will increase the risk of war and further isolate the US from our allies. Imagine Bolton as National Security Advisor, imagine Kelly (as bad as he is) replaced with some toady from Trump's business past who will tell the Trumpster what he wants to hear.
And now Tillerson (as bad as he was for the State Department) replaced by Pompeo who is likely to use threats of military solutions instead of diplomacy on complex issues such as North Korea and Iran. And Pompeo is a complete enabler of Trump telling him he is always right. We will soon be wishing for the good old days of Tillerson just as many of us would even rather have Bush (43) back instead of the incompetent we currently have.
We are on the entering unchartered and very dangerous territory for America and the world.
3
Well put, Ross. Just want to echo other commenters - the tragedy has already begun, and the denouement continues to its inevitable ending, which I hope is his resounding defeat at the polls in 2020.
2
I think this is an accurate take. For key jobs he named people at the start who would do the right thing even if he, Trump, wanted a dumb thing. He’s done with that: he’s fine wreaking havoc with the dumb things now.
More and more I am reminded of King Lear on the heath, but who is playing the fool?
1
candidates for the Presidency must be native born and at least 35 years old. I always understood the age requirement was supposed to encourage candidates with some wisdom and experience, instead of hotheaded and naive young pretenders.
but, things change over time and we're now stuck with a naive, hotheaded, inexperienced old coot with ossified opinions and out of date notions... and signs of possible cognitive decline.
never trust anybody over 30.
3
An id with no ego or superego...
1
March 14, 2018
We are witnessing the making of a true Trump fascist both internally and externally - and so our world awaits the men and women of public honor to serve in the workings of our institutions - we Americans are searching for something and today we learn of Steven Hawking death that sort everything including the mind of the divine. We Americans will take charge for whatever has the stamp of Trump is just junk republicanism and now is the time for redemption and recovery from this White House chaos for a theories of destruction are no pretty. So Rex has his unemployment insurance and Trump is using insect instincts to fine the ultimate wall to more keep us in his control and is father of American chaos theory without divine light for sure.
jja Manhattan, N.Y.
1
Trump was not a young, largely unknown as was JFK and Obama when they ran for the presidency. He was well known: the methods he used in his business dealings, his thirst for the limelight, his intolerance of anything or anyone that threatened his fragile ego, all were known. He casually insulted a true war hero, for example, and it was ignored. He revels in belittling people and is treated to gales of laughter.
Anyone who thought that somehow he would change, or be changed by the "system" were indulging in willful self-delusion. He thrives on chaos because when all gaze at the balls in the air he is doing something else. The more established players, in business and politics, create the rules of the game, so he is determined to disrupt the game.
He won the nomination and the election. What does this say about the American people? That is the question studiously avoided by the "commentariat." Why criticize Trump when so many Americans are bitterly unhappy with the situations they face. What can be done other than electing people like Trump, or demeaning those who had turned to him? Any answers?
1
The problem with Trump is that he's a guy who never spent much time reading or learning about important domestic and foreign policy issues, but believes he knows better than anyone how to handle them. The truly scary thing which Douthat seems to gloss over is war with North Korea. Is the Republican party going to sit on the sidelines and let Trump get us into a disastrous war with North Korea because they don't want to offend him and his supporters?
3
As with any business, if it is to succeed you have to fill the top positions with people that can do the job as well or better then you.
Since Trump was never qualified for the job to begin with, it's only natural that those that he had picked to run the government would be equally suited.
The real problem here though is the fact that Trump is able to get rid of them and we are unable to get rid of him.
6
The more of this we will have, the more likely a catastrophic 2018 election, for Republicrooks. YOU are culpable in all of this horrible abuse of power, and breaking of the norms, and laws, of the United States government.
4
In am Canadian and my history reminds me that when the revolution was over conservatives living in America headed back to the Empire and the security of a God given king. I understand the need for leadership that is inviolate. I understand that red America is always looking for the next Donald Trump but I also understand that that conservatism is unAmerican maybe even anti-American.
I understand the need to consider knee jerk reaction to change and a need to tame the reaction but cot conservatism is not an appropriate reaction and the time has come for pragmatism to be the reaction to a world that is moving too quickly.
It is time for a real opposition party to the rush of new ideas and values that is not the unhinged response of the present day GOP. There is no conservative response to chaos what is needed is orderly and coordinated response. It is time to remember the Titanic and how devastating the loss of life was when chaos ensued and conservative responses didn't assuage the panic.
America is deeply divided and maybe it is time to consider that there is not now and never was a Missouri Compromise. The is no compromise between "We the People" and the hierarchy of wealth and power. Here in Quebec we are starting to recognize what separation of church and state really means.
5
I suppose we can say that Trump's promised "unpredictability" is one that he has fulfilled. That may be fine to spice up a marriage, but managing the largest economic and military power can only bring trouble in the long run. To give Trump some kind of "credit" he has certainly transformed the "bully pulpit". Although using the Prisidency to pick and conduct personal fights domesticly and internationally can in no way be described as a prudent or mature use of power.
Trump is bound, not by outside forces, but by his own inability to grasp the enormous complexity of the job. Bumper sticker slogans can win elections, but governing requires much deeper and more focused intellect, and judging by Trump's hyper-active and limited attention span, that is beyond his capacity.
Trump's supporters yearn for simplicity, and he promises it, but reality won't cooperate. He promises to be their superhero, flying around and defeating all their enemies, but who gets to clean up all the damage and destruction he wreaks in his battles? When that bill comes due, payable by the "little people", they won't see him as a hero, but as the danger he is.
5
Republicans vindicated by the Trump Administration? Really? Would GOP Rep. Nunez be exhibit A? Sorry, No ! ... Republicans abandoned ethics and good governance a long time ago.
7
"It could get worse." Yes, in the same way that Bubonic Plague might be worse than the influenza of 1918. I'm afraid I find small comfort in thinking that the really awful might become the really, really dreadful.
4
Progressives and my fellow Democrats, don't feel bad that you have no clue on understanding Mr. Trump. The old-time Republicans are in the same boat as you.
The media has so blown away its credibility that there is no coming back to credibility for all these who have burned their code of ethics which was once so dear to them. These propagandists will retire in the same shame they grasped for themselves as part of their war on Trump.
But it is also clear that the GOP cannot count on keeping the Trump voter once The Donald passes from the scene. These voters are here because of him, NOT the party whose 17 primary candidate he waded through like so much grass clippings.
A cult of personality leads to dictatorship. That is all you need to understand about the misguided masses who support Trump on the way to their own doom.
3
Wake up. It is worse, and worsening every exhausting, outrageous week, if not on a daily basis, in multiple respects both domestically and internationally. You and like-minded Republican conservatives have consciously lowered the bar of acceptable behavior with this Fake President to such a degree, in a cynical swap for tax cuts, a Supreme Court position, etc., that any rational perspective has been lost.
The Trumpian Tragedy is well under way. It is already here. For starters, just ask Vladimir Putin how things are going for him.
2
Are you saying that when the reality ‘star’ elected president is really in control things will get better? He is a joke, and he’s making the office a bigger joke, that is the reality of the situation.
2
DT is doing what poor performing CEO's and dictators do, he's building an echo-chamber. Get ready for the full-psyche of DT to be unleashed.
Some day, he will be gone. Members of the GOP who are currently doing his bidding, should be prepared to answer for their betrayals to their country. If any of them are reading this, my guess is, in the end, whatever he is using to leverage your loyalty wont be worth it.
4
Which troubles you more—Trump as a conventional Republican, or Trump not as a conventional Republican?
Trump’s big problem is that, despite all the childish swagger, he has a military battered by 17 years of war, losing in Afghanistan, and with a huge percentage of undeployable personnel—a hollow force. Yes we can still drop bombs from 30000 feet, but not much else. And throwing a little money at the problem, after seven years of massive Republican Party cuts in spending (their 2011 budget cuts) won’t fix the problem quickly
Speaking loudly with a little stick is folly and incompetence
2
It seems to be getting worse every day. Trump could be better contained if only Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and other leader especially GOP members of Congress had backbones.
Firing Rex Tillerson in a seat of the pants apparent unilateral by a tweet to the general public is an inappropriate way to get rid of a Secretary of State.
13
Oh, stop it!
Trump is inexperienced in democratic governance and diplomacy, he is uninformed and uninterested in the state of the nation and the world, he lacks the patience and discipline to plan ahead or let his impulses play out, and he selects poisonous people for administrative and judicial positions.
So, why try to predict, rationalize, or hope that his unfettered actions will be anything but unpredictable, impulsive, and reckless?
36
I'm waiting for Hannity, Limbaugh, and Alex Jones to join this administration.
13
Those individuals you reference are quite possibly unattributed contributors to the unending chaos that we are subjected to.
1
I'd like to see Rush head the DEA.
It's hard to keep your narcissism satisfied with advisers who occasionally think about serving the country instead of feeding your ego.
10
This shows Douthat's love of Trump: " From his exciting new steel tariffs..."
Exciting new steel tariffs??? What on earth are you trying to say?
12
I think that was sarcasm on Douthat's part.
sarcasm. trust me on this.
slightlycrazy and cec: I sure hope you're right! I just don't trust Douthat very much. After all, Trump's "promised summit meeting with Kim Jong-un" is very possibly in the works. Who knows what Mr. T will do.
If America manages to survive more or less intact the next 3 years it will be for nothing that Trump did or did not do. It will be a fluke. Just like the fluke that got this disgraceful, insulting, pathological narcissist and liar elected. Democracy here is being tested like never before and only this November's elections stand any chance of averting the current course of calamity for this country and rebuilding all that has been already lost.
14
Here’s the problem in a word: “story”. The GOP just can’t face fact, or the idea of fact, or the fact of fact, so they dwell in narratives and think that the court of final authority is only as big as a TV screen and only as loud as Sean Hannity. And when Fox News and Sean Hannity reveal themselves over and over and over to be out of sync with the facts, even when Trump and the GOP kill fact-gathering and discredit the people and the processes that deliver fact…facts persist. The fundamental error that is killing the Conservatism is that they seceded from fact. They thought they could just declare themselves to be an empire free of fact, an alternative to the reality-based community, with their alternative think tanks and their alternative reasoning and their battalions of paid shills like this columnist whose jobs consist of insisting that five isn’t five if you sincerely hold the belief that it’s six.
Trump “unconstrained” means that he’ll do what he does: dwell in his personal Caligulan fantasy and order that gravity be repealed so he doesn’t have to walk up stairs. And he’ll destroy what’s left of the GOP when reality doesn’t comply.
Face the facts, Ross: reality is not a story. There are no alternative facts. There is nothing outside the reality-based community. And seriously, Trump does not read your columns or your headlines.
14
This is just becoming worse and worse, isn't it. Will the next presidential firing be that of Mr. Mueller?
10
Ross, we descended into tragedy a long time ago. The only question is how low we will go.
11
Does it matter who is around Trump? Is not the essential and existential reality the fact that he is unhinged and that his core supporters don't care because they find him so amusing?
11
You’re going to rely on TV personalities and a new coterie of advisors to soothe and constrain the Trump? Please. This administration has been gutted by the departures of people he handpicked. Gone are Tillerson and Cohn, and Tom Price at HHS and Michael Flynn as national security advisor, two deputy national security advisors, plus many White House aides and communications personnel too numerous to name. This presidency was barely functional and effective with his team and will get worse when he can’t find anyone to work for him, from TV land or not. But I pray for the opposite.
5
It would seem quite likely that we are going to have a severe recession coming up in 2019 or 2020. That will then be subject main of discussion, since Trump will have now way with dealing with it.
2
Jeez Ross: thank you for your profound, remarkable insight. I thought things were going to get better till I read your column. Now I'm really worried. Thank you.
And if you had any guts and allegiance beyond your beloved Republican Party, you would urge thee Congress to impeach Trump.
10
When Trump takes charge (or when he says he loves you), visions of the bottom of busses should rapidly come to mind.
1
Nothing like an article warning us that things are going to get worse rather than better.
And, I agree.
Not only that, but we have to wait until next January before anyone in Congress will actually put their country before their ideology and party affiliation. We cannot forget who the people are who enabled this freak show and may well have to lock some of them up - like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to assure it won't happen again.
2
The Republicans have done a horrible job of "containment and constraint".
They joined him in passing a massive tax cut that increases income inequality, hamstrings infrastructure spending, and threatens, according to the Republicans themselves, Medicare, Medicaid, and other important programs.
Chuck Grassley ended the 116-year practice of honoring blue slips from Senators from the state where a judicial nominee resides at a time when Trump is nominating people far out of the mainstream and, in some cases, deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association.
The Republicans denied Merrick Garland a seat on the Supreme Court and seated Neil Gorsuch instead.
Congress passed legislation that insulated companies like Purdue as the opioid epidemic continues to worsen and the federal government fails to meaningfully address it.
Wildfires rage and hurricanes do much damage as climate change is denied and heat records continue to be set across the globe.
Republicans in Congress shield Trump from any consequences for his misdeeds.
If Democrats obtain a majority in the House this November and Trump has committed serious impeachable offenses (including dereliction of duty), I really hope Republican senators will impeach him. Our country is in such peril.
7
If Trump's administration was not so anti abortion and anti contraception would Douthat be more critical of them?
2
Everyone knows that Mr. TRUMP is not a politician...he's a self-absorbed knucklehead..which is fine. We need to give him credit, however, for calling out the hypocrisy inside 'the Beltway' and his willingness to challenge the conventional(interest group tainted)logic that permeates a significant portion of our public policy promulgation and political debate.
A growing number of Americans relate to the old saying, "Just because we've always done it that way...doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid". They are angry and frustrated with our ongoing Congressional ineptitude & partisanship and are demanding CHANGE...hence TRUMP's election. Admittedly, the concept of both TRUMP & CHANGE are scary propositions.....but it is time to take our country in a new direction....faster...and, no matter who occupied the Oval Office, that process was going to be a painful undertaking. Whether you like him or not....thanks to President TRUMP's 'car chasing' rhetoric..a lot more people are paying attention, engaging in spirited debates and/or becoming politically active....all catalysts for effecting CHANGE.
1
But we may not survive the catalyst.
2
Re: "descent from farce to tragedy" is misreading Trump. Perhaps Mr. Douthat you meant to say 'travesty'? A tragic figure --in the literary sense-- has a tragic flaw. Trump does not have one sole flaw -- he is 100% flawed and America is suffering for it -- 100%.
2
"Mike Pompeo (who has the president’s ear and is unlikely to be more hated at the State Department than his predecessor)".
Just you wait and see how he is hated.
3
It's pretty obvious from this week's firing rampage, that Trump is in full meltdown mode. Any one who challenges him or his views will be gone. Period.
With fewer WH loyalists surrounding him, we should expect more and more raucous campaign rallies where Trump gets his batteries "recharged" by ndulging in his favorite pleasure... hearing himself talk.
6
Russ is half right ... despicable donnie has been moderately contained, and is now replacing those who contained him with those who support him wholeheartedly. I think he gets it wrong when he suggests there is any end to this other than disaster. As the White House descends to ever deeper levels of corruption and anti-democratic desires, and as donnies id is ever further allowed to roam free, disaster is inevitable. The only question is, will it be a disaster from which the country, and the world, can recover? Or will the damage be so extensive and so deep that the history of the world will be forever changed for the worse?
7
Most politicians who run for president, know something about how government works and are familiar with other people in government. Reagan was governor of California. Trump ran a business, not a political entity. Also he's had Mueller and his group trying to dig up something that makes their work seem, at least to some, worthwhile. It certainly gets cheers from the Democrats and the Russians must be thinking" How could we be so lucky." But Mr Douthat comers across shallow when he starts defining the either/or concept. Another professor years ago told me stay away from that concept. In this OP-ED, we are told that the negotiation with North Korea will end in war or a disastrous treaty.. But what pundits have nightmares about is the unfathomable concept that the meeting with Kim Jong-un might work out. So far regardless of who was president, not one has succeeded to have Kim put down even bb guns. Sanctions are worthless. North Korea developed the bomb and the rockets to load them on. Not only that but they are selling the technology to others. If Trump wins, fails, or comes out with a nuclear free result, it worth the try. I was alive when we dropped the bomb times two on Japan. The newsreels and photos back then showed the horror of nuclear war. Today we just see photos of nuclear mushroom. We should look at the older ones and then tell us why Trump should not try.
Trump's whole idea of “taking charge” boils down to rotating through an increasingly oddball collection of cabinet members and “experts” until he finds the combination that doesn't conflict on any level with his own beliefs, regardless of how uninformed and ludicrous those beliefs might be, and views his unhinged behavior as refreshing.
Under these criteria, Pompeo is the perfect choice to replace Tillerson: like Trump, he doesn't believe in diplomacy, preferring instead frictionless bellicosity that always sees the U.S. winning unscathed. Like Trump, he doesn't believe in treaties with allies or enemies. Like Trump, he doesn't believe in government beyond the executive branch (a la the Tea Party, Pompeo's launching pad).
The rest of Trump's favored menagerie—including Ross, Mnuchin, Haspel (for the time being at least)—all fit the mandatory mold: obsequious, isolationist, and for the most part embedded to destroy the departments they currently run. Add to these clowns the prospect of bringing on someone like Larry Kudlow (talk about fake), and you can see how Trump is planning to fill out his cast.
4
If Donald Trump was subjected to the same Security Clearances much of his staff has failed to pass, I'm betting he wouldn't get clearance either.
42
Isn't it amazing how Mr. Douthat, while criticizing Trump as unqualified to be President, continues to deny that he is the sub-human, felonious, sociopathic white-collar criminal that anyone who has paid attention know that he is.
16
We now have a real problem. President Trump will make more decisions as president. What he has decided so far seems to most likely lead to disasters.
12
Trump seems to be feeling the exhilaration not only of bursting the chains of those who would rein in his worst instincts but also of banishing every vestige of competence and independent judgment from his administration, lest anyone try to rein him in again. Soon, with the likely departures of McMaster and Kelly, we will be left with Trump Unbound, a made-for-TV presidential cartoon, chock full of high drama, sex and violence, grounded in the make-believe of alternative facts and running 24/7--while the very real out-of-control train of our democracy careens faster and faster toward the edge of the cliff.
The big question is whether our institutions and the American people have the power or the will to turn off the show and retake control. There are only three possibilities--Congress, the rule of law and the American voter--but all three are compromised: Congress by donor money so overwhelming it has crushed any semblance of loyalty to country or the electorate, the rule of law by executive overreach and the packing of the courts with Republican parrots, and the voters by Republican gerrymandering and Russian interference.
The current Congress is clearly a lost cause, and the rule of law is shaky with a president who would so impulsively fire his FBI director and exhibit such a flat learning curve in the wake of that decision. So I'm putting my faith in the American voter. If we turn out, there are enough of us to stop this train.
21
Most politicians who run for president know something about how government works and are familiar with other people in government. Reagan was governor of California. Trump ran a business not a political entity. Also he's had Mueller and his group trying to dig up something that makes their work seem, at least to some, worthwhile. It certainly gives cheers from the Democrats and the Russians must be thinking" How could we be so lucky." But Mr Douthat comers across shallow when he starts defining the either/or concept. Another professor years ago told me stay away from that concept. In this OP-ED, we are told that the negotiation with North Korea will end in war or a disastrous treaty.. But what pundits have nightmares about is the unfathomable concept that the meeting with Kim Jong-un might work out. So far regardless of who was president, not one has succeeded to have Kim put down even bb guns. Sanctions are worthless. North Korea developed the bomb and the rockets to load them on. Not only that but they are selling the technology to others. If Trump wins, fails or comes out with a nuclear free result, it worth the try. I was alive when we dropped the bomb times two on Japan. The newsreels and photos back then showed the horror of nuclear war. Today we just see photos of nuclear mushroom. We should look at the older ones and then tell us why Trump should not try.
Douthat strains credulityimplying that Trump has substantive policy positions, strategies based on knowledge, concern for the national good- when all evidence indicates his central preoccupation is his ability to get deference from advisors and cheers at rallies.
His inability to study intel, read briefings, grapple with complexity leaves him to shuffle & fire in a charade of smart leadership. His measure is that of a salesman - say anything to win the crowd you are with, flip flip to protect the base, posture as tough - despite little of depth, savvy or competence.
That he has decided to fire or drive away closest staff is not an indication of ‘finding his voice’ - it is evidence of his gross incompetence and shallow criteria.
It truly seems he hires on looks & bluster. This does make Steven Miller an anomaly. Choosing hawks and bullies is not sound leadership in a nuclear age.
7
The salvation of the United States may lie in the opposition controlling one of the houses of Congress after this fall's election effectively putting an end to the last half of term one of Trumpian governance and his dreams of being a strongman ruler with undemocratic, dictatorial leanings.
9
I find it mildly interesting--and all too predictable--that Ross Douthat talks about, "constraint," and "personalities," and can't bring himself to say what KIND of lunacy we've saddled ourselves with.
This is a far-right Administration, Mr. Douthat. It's a radical libertarian and corporatist economic agenda, to the extent that there's an agenda for anything at all. And to the extent Trump gives a rat's about religion, it's a radical, fundamentalist, ugly Christianity on display.
It looks to me as if you're not stating the obvious because in many wqys, you agree.
12
Democratic candidates for office this Fall should read aloud at their campaign rallies, debates, and gatherings those portions of this article which describe what Donald Trump, uncontained and unrestrained by sound advice, his innate anti-intellectualism, and lack of an enquiring mind, has done to damage America and America's democratic values. Listeners, reminded of how bad Trump's chaotic and unguided management, couldn't wait to vote for any Democrat who offers to stand against this disaster of a President.
4
It will be interesting to see if Pompeo will be any less frustrated and angered at serving a boss who regularly throws cross-body blocks on the people he chooses to run the departments.
Pompeo will either be a complete stooge for Trump or will, in exercising his office, be occasionally publicly slammed by a president who doesn't take to any of his people getting an actual headline.
What a mess!
2
50 years ago The Republican Party created the Southern Strategy, the conscious effort to appeal to the segregationist Strom Thurmond and George Wallace Democratic voters.
In the 1980’s the Republican Party gave us the culture wars and Reagan and the dog whistle politics of welfare queens and States Rights and created the Reagan Democrats.
In the 1990’s we got the Newt Gingrich House of Representatives take no prisoners confrontation, the Clinton impeachment, Whitewater, and Vince Foster murder conspiracy.
With Obama, they created the Tea Party and gave us the birthers, death panels, and support of the Confederate flag.
And all these years, the Republican politicians have been using the Reaganomics talking points of small government and tax cuts for the job creators coming from the right-wing think tanks.
For thirty five years, the rising tide of Trickle Down Economics has mostly the wealthy.
And the Republican establishment is sick, just sick I tell you, to think of Trump representing the Republican Party.
13
Larry Kudlow was an economist at the Fed, had a post in the Reagan administration and was chief economist at at Bear Stearns. John Bolton has had a distinguished career as both an Asst Attorney General, Asst Sec of State, and UN ambassador. You may have issues with their politics but it isn't like they were contestants on the Apprentice,they are both fully qualified by the traditional standards by which we judge presidential appointees.
3
Ryan and McConnell will do nothing until 2/2019. They need to give Pence a shot at running twice. As far as containing or restraining Trump, they are powerless. It'll be amusing to see what sort of sorry excuse of a straw will finally break the elephant's back.
1
Who did you vote for, Ross?
OK, Democrats you are being handed a gift. Craft a unifying policy: This is what we believe, these are the laws we will propose, we will take the country in this direction, we will lift up all people, not just tree hugging dirt worshipers.
You will still face a divided congress and have Trump as President, but I believe if you show a willingness to advance your goals in steps, by reasonable compromise, and tell people that is what you are doing so they see that there is a plan, you will succeed in the next two years. That will lead to a change in the Presidency in 2020. But, you must get started now. You must embrace the entire nation now. You must show that you are ready and capable of leading now. All of this is necessary for success in November and to set the stage for 2020.
7
I don’t share your unconvincing optimism that there won’t be a real disaster during this administration brought on by it’s impetuousness and ignorance. Get real. Never Trump. Not now. Not ever.
9
Ryan and McConnell have betrayed themselves as soulless, selfish opportunists, bitter with spite and more than willing to upend the Constitution and the nation's security to collude with the fatuous, oafish, bigoted, theiving traitor that is smearing the White House. McConnell's contempt for the people and values of America glared out in his refusal to uphold the requirements of his office and the Constitution and hold hearings on Merrick Garland's nomination to the SC. Not because of any failings of Garland's, but because McConnell's personal spite and hatred of Obama overwhelmed any responsibility he felt to the country and the rule of law. Ryan, that vile choirboy for killing off the poor, refused to remove the despicable Devin Nunes from the House Intelligence Committee despite the bipartisan outrage at his blatant law breaking and intent to warp the committee to protect Trump at all costs, including breaching national security. The waste of taxpayer money on the worthless, lying "report" engineered by Nunes and other traitors to the country is a national disgrace, an invitation to Russia to meddle again and completely Ryan's fault.
And you expect these two foul goons to "contrain" the vicious idiot Trump?
The voters of Pennsylvania are showing the guts to admit their mistake and put the good of the country first. You should too, Mr. Douthat.
6
"a descent from farce to tragedy" would be a great first line of thinking here, sir.
You can leave off the "might begin". "It has begun" would wind it up just fine by itself.
You kid yourself. You have deceived yourself and now that you have scratched and clawed your way to the middle with convoluted isms you have nobody to blame but yourself.
2
As a fan of “Rudolph,” I implore you to please not insult the poor little misfit toys by comparing them to anyone in the Trump white House.
1
Douthat retreats from honest empiricism to his usual white-wing fantasy world when he writes that Trump was "contained."
Trump already did so much damage to American democracy that it will take a generation to repair it and Trump may have permanently delegitimized the federal courts.
During the past year, the Oval office exemplified the national chaos the planet will experience from global warming Trump is fueling and exporting.
What prevents Republican columnists such as Douthat from being both realistic and honest?
7
Another Douthat missive from an alternate reality. The chaotic President has been "restrained" by his party? The oppositional-defiant toddler has grown into the job and is now ready to turn off the tv, put down his twitter phone and lead? Douthat must think his readers are morons.
5
It pains me how glibly the right wing talks about a possible war with North Korea. Such a conflict would likely be catastrophic for both Koreas, with millions of casualties.
Yet the prospect of war does *nothing* to sway Trump's enablers. They may cluck their tongues and roll their eyes in private, but in public they continue to carry water for a man whom the majority of Americans consider to be unfit for office.
Shame!
13
Trump was constrained? He demonstrated how in charge he is by caving to the NRA. The fact is that no one is in charge. He has no principles and no ability.
6
Of course he fired Tillerson! I know lots of people just like trump. He is completely predictable in any situation. What would an angry, entitled, 80's blowhard do? Also, he always... always... always stacks the deck. He is totally winning for America by being an American caricature. That's why I voted for him, I knew he would win big for all of us. Also, I knew it would be awesome to watch.
Excuse me, Mr. Douthat? If this past year has been devoted to containment and restraint, hold on to our collective hats!
The sycophant Republicans who have applied no restraint or containment on the creature in the WH they created, have broken our democratic ideals but instead of trying to pick up the pieces, they are marching forward over the shards creating more destruction.
Vote the unpatriotic, unAmerican cronies out of office. That's our only solution.
7
It may be difficult for trump to do much of anything from prison.
8
Trump's decision making process is influenced primarily by Stephen Miller and Sean Hannity. We aren't in a it is going to get worse before in gets better moment in his Presidency, we are in a it is going to get worse and worse and worse. Trump himself will become more unhinged (if that is possible) as he comes to better understand his support of GOP candidates is like a death kiss. He can rationalize Saccone's defeat any way he likes, but what it is first and foremost is an indictment on Trump having done an absolutely horrible job and people coming to understand he is to the core a scam artist.
2
When will this guy stop normalizing this catastrophe? When we have a nuclear exchange with North Korea? When dozens of tariffs spring up across the world and we regress back to 1929?
3
We need to have this man impeached and removed from offi ce. Mueller cannot work fast enough. If the majority fails to act in defense of this nation from this man's assaults, they will be blamed and shamed by history. In the interim, it is we the people who are at risk in regards to the consequences. VOTE
2
In reply to JDH NY
This Republican heeds your call!
Pssst! Ross! You missed the boat!
Things already went from from farce to tragedy on January 20, 2017...
7
All this analytic abstraction by our columnists. It's a much simpler scenario. Put an unqualified imbecile in charge of a country, this is what happens. Not just this country - Russia, Philippines, North Korea, Sudan, Venezuela, the list goes on.
Trump is a mistake begging for correction. Vote. Everybody, vote.
7
It seems that even the conservative writer of this piece is pessimistic about Trump's presidency. We are witnessing a president's descent into madness and isolation. Instead of telling Rex he's fired, he tweets. He cannot deal with the chaos and make rational decisions. His ad hominen attacks seem more desperate and paranoid. Trump only wants sycophants and family around him, even if they are woefully inexperienced like Kushner and Miller, or out to exploit the government like Mnuchin and Pruitt. There is no hope for Trump. He's losing it. And it's too late for Republicans to save him and their party. It will be like Custer's last stand. Trump will go down in the annals of history as the president who sold out our country and tried to turn it into a totalitarian one.
2
As Trump forms his cabinet like him, he will ultimately take on more of the blame for the failures to come. For the sake of the US, I hope Trump makes good decisions, but we all know that is hoping for a lot.
1
To all the criticism voiced against Trump, I would add that he has délivered us into the Kremlin's clutches. If we are not confirmably Putin's active ally, we are almost certainly fellow travelers and pawns in an énormous organized crime enterprise and a massive betrayal of our values and those of allies.. Is there a doubt that Tillerson's dispatch was prompted by his
condemnation of Russia for the UK poisoning? So far, I have heard no similar condemnation from Trump. And what has our UN ambassador said?
We are at a horrific pass, and républicans in congress are facilitators? Why?Because they like the NRA and tax cuts? What are they doing in the face of the damage wrought by Trump?
8
You lost me when you stated that he could be contained by conventional Republican pursuits by McConnell and Ryan. The disgusting behavior of the GOP during Obama's time, such as not allowing a SCOTUS nominee to go through a presumptive process, was not very decent conventional GOP behavior. The bad behavior predated Trump. It was just a matter of degree. They cleared the path for a Trump.
11
As I wrote in response to Tillerson's firing yesterday, this is what populism looks like people. How the GOP has somehow constrained Trump is highly debatable, considering that he hasn't attempted to govern. Indeed, it seems that Trump is in perpetual campaign mode---he refuses to concern himself with learning how govt works. This involves patience and work, both which are anathema to America's current president.
Fact of the matter is that populism isn't an ideology. Likewise, populists have no real leadership skills, there is no articulation of goals. This particular combination produces the following: a aimless regime. What's most disturbing about Trump's presidency isn't that we're destined to an unacceptable goal; it's that it has an improvisational character, that this presidency is merely winging it. Heck, I quite often doubt that Trump is president for the sake of having power---you really don't know with him.
Despite controlling both houses, the oval office and most state governments, Republicans essentially preside over a legislative vacuum distinguished by paralysis at present. If anything, America's current political landscape and atmosphere is one of and which represents nihilism.
1
Handlers, constraints, taming, containment. Sounds like a awful mixture of a day-care facility and decrepit animal shelter. Trump doesn't even deserve that fate for the next 1,000 years.
Most apparent, and most frighteningly, as he saws through his shackles is that his intentions and inner beliefs are pure destruction of the federal government other than as his butler and staff, and beliefs that are egomaniacal that that phrase is too small.
There is hope, however, because as Gandalf said:
"Hate does often harm itself."
2
Thank you, Ross. You made a strong case for impeachment. It's nice to hear it from people as conservative as you.
5
You know, this article has already been written about 1,000 times, by about 730 different people. Trump has changed! Trump has evolved! Trump is seeing the light! Trump is taking control.
Wrong. Trump is a lying, corrupt, incompetent blowhard whose one true talent is convincing enough people that he's not really a lying, corrupt incompetent blowhard.
He won't change. He can't change. He is what he is.
And what he is is a nightmare for anyone with eyes that see and brains that think.
12
I must ask Congressional Republicans again: why haven't you impeached this moron yet? We are drifting towards disaster. You are drifting towards disaster: did you notice how well your candidate for a deepest-red Pennsylvania seat fared?
Impeach him already. You get your President Pence, who is conservative in all the conventional low-tax, high-religion ways you crave. You get your conservative court nominees. You can stop looking the other way to ignore proof that your president is a Russian stooge. Sure, the midterm elections look rough for Republicans, but how does keeping Trump help you there?
Impeach him already. Stop this drift away from democracy. Stop this drift before it bumps up against a nuclear war somewhere on the planet. What exactly do you have to lose from imposing your President Pence on us?
21
Look to the past to predict the future:
Trump ran his family business haphazardly. He would rise in the morning, watch cable TV news, take the elevator down to his office and to use the words of people close to him, "let the world come to him." From that perch he would organize his day.
Since the business was privately-held, he answered to no one, no board of directors, no shareholders, no one above him.
The only difference then and now is that he gets to the Oval Office by a set of stairs, but he is dealing with the presidency the same way he dealt with his business - by shooting from the hip, following his instincts, and lying through his teeth.
Trump must pinch his cheeks each morning when he shaves looking in the mirror laughing inside at his tremendous good luck and good fortune to not only have been born with a gold spoon in his mouth, but to use this playbook to get to the presidency of the United States. Oh, he's "in charge" now. At least until November.
11
Since you have God’s ear, Mr. Douthat, please pray hard that Trump doesn’t start a war with North Korea or Iran. The consequences for all of us would be unbelievably tragic, far beyond any political calculus about who is in or out.
Trump to me is like ten year old behind the wheel of a car on a freeway— every mile he goes without crashing is a relief, but how likely is it that a safe ride will continue?
18
Sir, you have insulted misfit toys everywhere.
6
When I see the photo of Trump tossing his cap in the photo that accompanies Douthat's op-ed, I feel outrage that this idiot is our president, and his presidency a dangerous farce. The idea that Trump now feels in control is even more terrifying. God help us.
8
Trump lost the popular vote by a wide margin but became president through the political mechanics of the electoral college. Far from being a populist he is in fact a political creature of the worst kind. He represents the Electoral College's mechanics.
11
Here is an example of the founding fathers greatest mistake: giving the office of the president to a single individual. The executive branch should have been formed much like the house and senate with a system of debate and decision. Perhaps a "multi-president" system. Coming from a history of kings and queens perhaps the framers of the constitution could not get the idea of a parent figure out of their heads even though they sought to temper their creation's possible negative effects. They could not see long enough into the future. It is 2018. If you look around you will see the source of most of the world's problems is power in the hands of faulty men who have made it to the top jobs in their respective lands. We are victims of an outdated mindset and may God save the United States because of it.
1
It was the separation of powers that was carried too far. If the founders had kept a Parliamentary system the Preen entirely consistent withesident and his Cabinet would have been sitting members of the House or Senate. There would have been no Executive Branch with independent powers.
This would have been entirely consistent with British politics at the time. Lord Denning had proposed a resolution in the House of Lords: 'the power of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished'. There were plenty of UK peers and MPs who thought the colonists had a point.
You might want to look at a parliamentary system with a figurehead presidency.
The only way to explain Trump's politically suicidal behavior (see Connor Lamb) is to see him for what he is: a pure Manchurian Candidate puppet of Putin. As his own popularity, and that of his hapless party, crumbles all around him, what does Trump do? He triples-down on being more Trumpian, and more the tool of Russia for weakening America than ever. First, he launches an insane trade war. Next, he fires Tillotson and brings in his fellow war-monger Pompeo to prepare to weaken America even more disastrously by going to war with Iran and North Korea. The "negotiation" with Kim will simply be a charade allowing Trump to claim he did "all I could" for peace, was rebuffed by Kim, so now "I have no choice but to protect America with war." Since the Republicans will run Congress at least till January, Trump will have plenty of time to launch his wars for Putin, no matter what Mueller comes up with. And those wars are exactly what Trump the puppet was put in power by Russian "meddling" to achieve--come hell or high water.
7
Facing a likely loss in the 2020 election, Trump will contrive a drama to justify declaring martial law to hang onto power. This is how Hitler did it with only 30% of popular support...staging an arson attack on the Reichstag and declaring martial law. Unfortunately, Trump has the authority to do that too.
3
What I want to know is - when the hell are these people in Washington going to start thinking about what is BEST for the American People? Not just moneyed people, or people who can help get you elected, but regular middle and lower class people who go to work, suffer, get cancer, get paid (too little), and try to raise our kids while some knucklehead in sitting in the Oval Office!!
When was the last time you thought about a politician - he wants to change things, make things better? The last time for me was when Obama was just starting. However, the Republicans weren't having any of that. HOPE? That's for suckers. And a BLACK man being president? Well we ain't falling for that! And it turned in to same old same old.
Now we've got Trump and Ryan and McConnell. None of which seem to give a tinker's damn about the little people - the teachers (who don't want your guns), the factory workers (who KNOW that it was the boss who sent his job to Mexico and China but has been convinced that was somehow the government), or the office worker (who is just chattel for the board and their stock options).
I'm tired. I'm tired of Trump and all the rest. But I'm mostly tired of having to explain to my 11 year old sons that this country and our society are pretty dang good, and your hard work will be rewarded. In short, I'm tried of lying to them!
12
Donald Trump
Mike Pence
Mike Pompeo
Jeff Sessions
Steve Mnuchin
Ryan Zinke
Wilbur Ross
Betsy DeVos
Ben Carson
Rick Perry
Scott Pruitt
Gina Haspel
Mick Mulvaney
Really? Really.
6
We may be seeing a crack in the 'Fake News" barrier that trumpism has been so effective in building between his rabid base and the real world of his lies and mendacity and incompetency.
The special election results in Pennsylvania are fairly devastating and should presage a wake up call for the GOP:
Keep enabling this dangerous imbecile and destroy the party or wake up and start thinking about the 25th amendment.
Pence is a Bronze Age stooge BUT he definitely can be managed by the semi adults in the party.
1
Ross is playing medical doctor without a license again. Malignant narcissism disorder is an incurable mental illness.
How well allowed this bull into our American China Shop is unfathomable? So far this Presidency reminds me of the occasions I had that talk with my teenage son about the rules for having friends over to our house when we were not present. It now appears that there is no adult around to lay down the rules and all Trump's buddies have arrived for a party.
3
Yes, Ross, no doubt that this president has not "used" the office well. However, there is the problem that he has neither the experience nor expertise to discern which assets in business are beneficial to be applied to governing, and which are not. I further don't believe, because of his aversion to reading, short attention span, and absorption in self, that he is capable of growing into the suit, so to speak. As one of his advisors once remarked, we should not listen to his words, but understand "what is in his heart". This puts the onus on us to parse his words and actions, and I believe his actions reinforce the perception that he is not capable to run this country, and even are putting us in a position of grave danger ... militarily, politically, diplomatically, and moraly.
1
Out of the loop president, just just a loopy president?
1
The more incredulous aspect of this administration is the reality that the core Trumpistas still support this moron and the republican party politicians still serve his needs.
Of such humble beginnings lie the foundations of ... well, for those unfamiliar with history, look at Germany in the 1930s.
4
Trump is a coward. A Twitter coward for sure, too afraid to face those he wishes to fire. But that's not new. We just saw more evidence yesterday. As Seth Myers said, a Dominoes pizza boy would get more respect when his boss fires him. Just sad and pathetic beyond belief.
I, too, have felt very uneasy (well since November 2016 but it's been much worse lately) that Trump is becoming more confident that he can and will 'go it alone'. He'll surround himself with sycophants, yes-men and women, and that's the same as going it alone.
I just pray that once he boggles the N. Korean meeting (if there even is a meeting; have we heard from Kim Jong Un yet? No.), Gen. Mattis will not go to war under Trump's direction. And that Trump can't find a general to replace Mattis that will go to war for him. That's where my mind is at.
And, then, of course, there's the nomination of the Woman Torturer for the CIA. Sickening.
Trump is making this country sick. He's a sickness that is infecting us all.
13
We have an unstable, incompetent narcissistic sociopath in the White House. He has always been thus. With the governing qualifications of a combination of Bernie Madoff, Enron and Adolph Hitler, how could anyone expect a satisfactory outcome to his term as Dotard-in-Chief?
No one can contain him - he is a ten-year-old constantly having a hissy-fit. He listen's to the mouth closest to his ear, with no rational filter, and then changes his mind, pivoting to another absurdity.
Trump is a game-show on two legs, who cannot see the color of the socks he is wearing. The next set of "advisors" and Cabinet occupants is just as likely to be from the guest list at Mar a Lago as from the cast of Beeves and Butthead. He cannot live with ANY constructive criticism; he has no moral compass or civility; he has a perverted ego and is an unabashed coward who seeks self-stem from the crazies of his base.
We can only hope that Mueller's investigation yields unquestionable high crimes, and adequate justification for prosecution. I would rather see a Constitutional Crisis than nuclear war or Fascist takeover.
5
I imagine that eventually, Trump will nominate Steve Doocy for the head of the CIA, Brian Kilmeade for Attorney General, and Ainsley Earhardt for Chief of Staff...and somewhere along the line he'll bring back Omarosa for ratings and so he can fire her again.
1
For a country with such a huge stake in the international order, an unbound Trump is a disaster.
3
We know where this is heading: he fires Mueller.
2
You are confusing “being afraid” of his first year with plain incompetence. Stroked out Woodrow Wilson was 10x a better president than this clown will ever be.
1
Mr. Douthat. There is ZERO chance that our president can make it through one of your columns.
1
Pretty thoughtful, Mr. Douthat.
If the world survives this person without a calamity - a recession rivaling the Great Depression sparked by Trump's idiotic America First protectionism, or a nuclear holocaust sparked by his foolish jingoism and bluster, we should consider ourselves fortunate. It is an essential obligation of every American who values our democratic traditions to vote, vote vote in November to oust the sycophantic Republican enablers who have dismally failed in their duty of oversight, and who have placed party over country. Do we need any further proof than that this fool would appoint a torturer as head of the CIA, and a Tea Party sycophant who denies climate change and wants to unravel the Iran nuclear deal to be Secretary of State? As if Tillerson, the worst in modern history, wasn't bad enough? How low will America allow itself to be dragged by this incompetent narcissist? And exactly what devastating secrets does Putin hold against this person that would cause him to refrain from condemning a murderous nerve gas attack on our closest ally? For shame, Republicans, for shame.
1
Whether Trump could be worse or stay the same one thing is clear... he's still unpredictable because he doesn't listen to anybody and has a dangerous narcissistic personality. He's still unfit, unqualified, incompetent, ignorant, and arrogant. A Twitter presidency is neither tragedy nor farce... it's low brow infotainment blending propaganda with entertainment for the poorly educated.
2
There is no explanation for the corruption, the bullying, the racism and above all the blatant corruption of trump. He is totally out of his depth here. Running this administration using the same dirty tactics as he did with trumpworld isn't working by a long shot. Running the White House like one of his neanderthal-appealing TV Reality Shows is a slap in the face to our government and the citizens of this nation.
Ryan and McConnell should go into hiding for ever supporting this cretin.
We can only hope that enough Democrats and Independents get out and vote these enablers out and return Congress to a functioning body of men and women serving their constituents instead of special interest groups and unseat sniveling White House lackeys like Nunes.
2
Yup good article. But some very sad truths.....
Trump being Trump means "duck and cover".
If Trump brings John Bolten [with or without mustache] into his cabinet it will get worse..fast.
May containment last until next January. Then the Democrats can begin impeachment hearings.
"for all I know he might have read my columns"
He doesn't read!
This is satire, right?
2
I wish some of you Beltway savants would take the time to explain to us exactly what is wrong with a "détente" with Russia.
1
Detente with a dictator?
You can't figure that out?
1
Trump is not smart enough to carry out his duties. Trump is not smart enough to "know" what he doesn't "know". Trump is not decent enough to care that his ignorance and his brutal insecurity harms this country everyday, with every stupid thing he does. Trump has a different idea of what being successful is. To Trump the ONLY thing that matters is how much taxpayer loot he can shovel into his family's pockets. Nothing matters but HIS own enrichment and the shrill approval of his equally ignorant sycophants. That's how Trump has always defined success.
An "unbound" Trump - God help us.
1
With "loyalists" or toadies now in place, trump no longer needs to hang around the Oval to argue for his position. Everyone is now on board with Trump! Trump can now head out into the American heartland to do what he enjoys most.
Rallies, rallies, rallies!!! For ME ME ME!!!!!
Nothing about being POTUS gets Trump more pumped up or more happy. Why has he pushed his 2020 re-election campaign forward in such an aggressive manner in the past 2 weeks? No need really. So it is established to fulfill Trump's narcissistic Need. Need for adulation, the roar of the crowd, the chants. Sell more hats!
With the Oval now under control, Trump can roam. In his malignant mind, He is the only one who matters. I ALONE. On the stage.
So now he says he's getting close to the cabinet he wants.......well what was he doing for the past year. Oh yes, he was appointing, then firing and that's how it will continue because as soon as someone disagrees with him, they are out. Reminds one of his reality TV show.
“Constrained and tamed” are relative terms and Republicans have been deluding themselves into thinking Trump has under anyone’s influence but his own. The havoc he’s wreaked in his “constrained” phase will likely pale to insignificance as his misplaced confidence in his ability to govern grows.
It is even more delusional to believe he’s been influenced by any column in the NYT or that he reads anything other than his TV programming guide. As Homer Simpson famously said, “I’m not signing anything until I read it or SOMEBODY gives me the gist of it.”
1
Is this the "Trump Administration" or the "Republican Administration" or actually the "Koch Administration"? Considering the actual legislation passed and the bulk of the Executive Orders, my opinion is that the Koch brothers are really in command and that both Trump and the RNC are their puppets.
To be sure, Trump is mercurial and unpredictable but he is also consistent in pursuing the Koch Agenda for America along with the RNC leadership.
Sadly our founders worried about the potential tyranny of the majority and really did not consider the potential for a handful of wealthy individuals to purchase their way into controlling local, county, state and federal legislation through the application of huge sums of cash.
Unfortunately, the wealthy aren't subject to the constitutional checks-and-balances nor are they answerable to the electorate. They also got a boost from the Supreme Court giving them free reign to publish anything they want, even outright lies, to promote their agenda and manipulate your brain to thinking that their agenda is also your agenda.
It is time for a citizen driven initiative to push money out of politics. The people, not just a few wealthy, run this nation. Time to take it back!
I don’t know which idea is more preposterous—that an un-bound trump could possibly benefit the country In any way or that trump would (could) read Douthats column.
1
It no longer matters whether Trump can be restrained. He has already irreparably damaged the image of America, and its President, throughout the world. America can no longer claim the higher moral ground as the defender of freedom and liberty throughout the world. Trump's refusal to pursue equal rights to all races and religions, his desire to minimize support for NATO, his derogatory and childish references to world leaders, his identification with dictators such as Putin and Duarte who slaughter their own citizens, his calls for inhuman punishments (death for drug dealers), his rejection of any sensible global policies and his egomaniacal attitudes have drastically and permanently altered our image. We are no longer the protector of the free world or the guardians of individual liberties. We are viewed as no different from, if not worse, than Russia and similarly cruel nations.
2
Pompeo is probably just a stand-in until Kid Rock feels ready to step in, and Bristol Palin is probably getting ready to take over from Hope Hicks.
1
Why, why, why GOP voters have you done this?
5
When Donald Trump takes charge he will still be the grateful fearful puppet dummy stooge of Vladimir Putin.
When Trump takes charge he will still be primarily motivated by profiting from being President of the United States to the extent hidden from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records.
When Trump takes charge he will still spend a third of his time on vacation every year on one of his properties including playing golf 100 days.
When Trump takes charge he will still be hardly working while watching Fox News, tweeting and speaking.
3
"It could be worse. But if it eventually does get worse, a week like this one, with a president chafing against his bonds and snapping some of them, is how a descent from farce to tragedy might begin."
"tragedy
[ traj-i-dee]
NOUN
1.
a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster"
The tragedy began on November 8, 2016.
"He wants to actually use the office, and not just occupy it — and since he is the president, nobody can stop him from trying."
Mr. Douthat, I must disagree with this statement. Under our Constitution, the Congress has the power to prevent a manifestly unfit and corrupt president from leading the nation from farce to tragedy. The problem is that the feckless congressional majority has abdicated that authority even though they know the truth about the man occupying the office of the president. That is why theirs is the greater sin.
1
When Trump first took office, many of us wondered aloud how the country could withstand four years under the leadership of this huckster.
Now a year into this administration, we're all familiar with his inconsistent and chaotic leadership style.
Of course, we all hoped that the other major institutions in our government, especially Congress, would reign in Trump's impulses--- but the majority Republicans showed little desire to control him. We hope now that a landslide in the 2018 Congressional elections will install a Democratic majority. We also hope that the Mueller investigation will uncover the dark secrets that drive otherwise inexplicable Trumpian behaviors like his sycophancy to Russia and Putin, and will ultimately result in impeachment.
But those others--- the people who voted Trump in a year ago--- have not opened their eyes to what's happening. They are ignorant of the damage done by Trump's leadership to our institutions and relationships. As a result, many political analyses suggest that not only will Trump finish out his current term, but will likely be re-elected.
It's hard to imagine how we can weather another seven years of this.
2
I think that trump now knows that the GOP congress isn't going to do anything to remove him from office, no matter how many crimes he commits. He knows that he can now surround himself with more criminals like Johnny McEntee; no security clearance at the highest levels escorted off WH property, directly to the trump campaign Rob Porter, Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn, etc.; allow them to be as corrupt as they like and not a single congressional republican will lift a finger to stop him. He knows that time is short to completely undo the constitution and to steal as much of the national treasury as possible. Cause if he doesn't get Russia to rig the November elections his and their days are numbered.
Trump lives only for wealth and vacuous adulation.
If I have to watch him jut his chin forward and raise his arms like he's bestowing grace one more time while his minions cheer, I'm going to tear my eyes out.
1
I voted for Trump because I despised the smug Clinton and I thought the government could use a little monkey-wrenching. My voter registration card should be revoked.
19
@Ken Erickson
May I take a moment to applaud your candor, sir?
Rare and refreshing to hear a Trump voter voice buyer's remorse.
Kudos
NOT my president
With a nut job like him, you never know what the next hour will bring.
My prognostications on what's coming next:
April -- Steve Bannon announces the formation of a “Make America Great Again Party.” The Ku Klux Klan expresses its support for the party.
May – Trump joins the new party and threatens Mexico with war unless they pay up for the wall.
June – Alt-right groups and their opponents stage major demonstrations around the country. Trump declares martial law and says he is suspending all constitutional rights for "the time being.”
July -- Mueller announces that “despite many creditable leads” he has been
unable to gather “sufficient hard evidence” to bring criminal charges against Trump. He refers the matter to Congress, which declines to act.
August -- A nationwide effort is begun to place a likeness of President Trump on Mount Rushmore.
September -- The U.S. government purchases large plots of land in very isolated parts of the country and surrounds the plots with electrified barbed wire.
October –- Melania leaves Trump and donates all her clothes to shelters for battered women.
November -- Republicans are utterly routed in the election. Trump blames Obama and Clinton. He is removed from office under the provisions of the 25th Amendment.
December -- Pence is sworn in as President. He promises to “Make America
holy again.” There is talk in Congress of making the Montreal Cognitive Assessment a difficult test to pass.
2
Trumpoil, not to be confused with turmoil... Just exponentially worse....
1
Alright, Mr. Douthat, it would be a great way to gauge the mood of the Country by affixing little stickers of Trump wearing a crown of laurels here, there and everywhere.
But this is vandalism! Not necessarily. It has certain advantages, 'Made in China', paste a noble Roman profile sticker of a stern-looking Trump on the offensive label. For Merry or Happy Christmas, a jovial Trump with a Santa Cap. But who has the time to do this? How much are these Trump stickers going to cost?
Is Trump going to be in charge of this business venture? We should leave it to our children to venture out and start tagging. This is beyond childish! Perhaps but ask General Kelly for advice about children and what constitutes being in charge of Trump.
All to say, do not be surprised to find on the sole of the new shoes you bought after a refund from the IRS, a beaming sticker of Trump.
Let us turn the tragedy into farcical and make it 'Of Sorrow and Certain Joy'.
Please stop repeating this baloney that Trump is a populist, Mr. Douthat.
Trump is a Trumpist, i.e. a man out for himself and his family.
From the tax cuts for the 1% to the chipping away at the ACA, Trump isn't out for the forgotten man.
Again and again he does things without regard for anyone else, without counsel of people who have knowledge and seniority.
Everything Trump does is to benefit Trump, and it is wrecking all of us.
88
What is disturbing about this column is it implies that Tillerson and Cohn were competent at their jobs. I assume that Douthat really means that they are competent compared to their replacements. That is not good.
11
Tic toc tic toc - Trump is scared. His former campaign manager is wearing 2 electronic bracelets and the presiding judge says that he will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. My bet is that Manafort will start singing to Mueller. Trump has reshaped his cabinet so that any more talk of using the 25th amendment is null. So as for impeachment, the question remains, what will Ryan & McConnell do?
25
Trump is morphing though unholy to unleashed to unhinged all against a background of unpredictable.
The last thing America needs is DJT getting his sea legs because he is setting various stages to get in some real trouble, real fast. The perfect storm leading to his election is regrouping on the world stage with his “ relationship” to Putin and the accelerating ambitions of China.
Donald is the understudy of sorcerer’s apprentice.
8
It is important to remember that U.S. actions have consequences. To apply Colin Powell's expression, we "broke" the Middle East with George W. Bush's war in Iraq. Many nations in that region collapsed as a result of our destabilizing action, unleashing a flood of refugees. Those refugees poured into Europe, destabilizing the political landscape and leading to a nativist/anti-democratic movement across the EU. We "broke" the Middle East and Europe.
Trump is not ethically, technically, or tempermentally competent to negotiate any substantive issue with anyone. He is a menace, like a spoiled child with a claw-hammer in a museum. His actions could harm many more people than have been grievously harmed by George W. Bush's war of pique. We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to restrain Trump, and to remove him from office as the only means to truly limit the damage he can cause.
52
First thing, the first year did not vindicate Republicans who argued Trump could be contained. Quite the opposite. Trump has only undermined and destroyed those who sought to contain him. Things were bad when good-faith actors were trying. There's only one direction we're heading from here: Down.
Second thing, there are people who can stop him from trying. The institution is called Congerss. The institution's members have the power to stop Trump from trying in a vast variety of ways where most even stop short of impeachment. The Republican Congress has enabled Trump's most destructive and dangerous characteristics by not exercising their constitutional authority to constrain the President.
Instead, Ryan and McConnell take their tax cut and hide meekly in their holes avowing white supremacists, pedophiles, and a seemingly unfathomable number of international miscalculations destined to endanger American safety and prosperity. Just this week the Republican House committee attempted to whitewash Trumps benefit for Russian foreign interference.
The White House may be in chaos but the Trumpian cancer has spread far and wide throughout the Republican ranks. "It's not so bad" isn't good enough Ross. Complacency is an accessory to crime.
35
What a shame he hasn't the ability to lead.
9
Douthat loses me when he speaks of the risks when “Trump alone takes responsibility.” Trump continually shows that he doesn’t take responsibility. Anything negative about his performance is fake news. That gets him out of anything, in his mind. But I think Douthat’s talking about a responsible Trump is inadvertent and caused by his being so used, as we all are, to prior POTUS’ being generally responsible, even if reluctantly sometimes. Still, it amounts to a sort of blind spot that makes it harder for us to recognize how far Trump is from the norm and how unacceptable that is.
9
I usually agree with Mr. Douthat, but the theory of "containment" always has been, and always will be, a fantasy peddled by spineless Republicans to justify not challenging Trump.
To believe that Trump could be "contained" was to hope in the face of history, logic, and human nature that a person as petulant and child-like as Donald Trump could simply be relegated to the background as the "adults" took over the presidency that he won. However, Mr. Douthat apparently labors under the delusion that Trump has been contained and conceivably could be for another three years! I will admit that maybe the more realistic actors prevented him from doing some completely insane things in his first year, but I would hardly classify this time as successful "containment." Did "containment" stop Trump from insulting and undermining our allies? Did it stop him from pulling out of the Paris Accords? Did it stop him from undermining the justice system? Did it stop him from all but destroying the Iran deal? Did it stop him from undermining American values and institutions? Did it stop him from debasing the presidency on a nearly daily basis? The answer to all of these, of course, is no.
Despite my differences with Mr. Douthat, I agree whole-heartedly that it could (and probably will) get worse. In some almost unimaginably horrible way, I feel that the first year of Trump's presidency is the closest thing we will ever get to a "normal" presidency.
176
Trump.... petulant.... child-like....?
We could wish! "Child-like" at least includes the possibility of learning, of innocence, of being led by older and wiser....
Trump? Never.
4
How about a nice war to be both conventional politics and Trump world?
What Mr. Douthat calls "containment" looks more like opportunism: Republican politicians using the political power of a fascist demagogue in order to deliver the tax cuts, the deregulations, the raiding of public assets & the general upward redistribution that they are bribed to accomplish. Just as they have, for years, used the demagogues of Fox & other fake news businesses. In other words, business as usual. When the Republicans set out to turn government into a business, they turn politics into show business. This charade isn't about the horrible things that could happen, Mr. Douthat. It's about the horrible things that are happening.
288
Such a scary scenario
What a sad and dangerous time for America!
3
Yes. And Mr President it is time to get muscular and support our greatest ally, Britain, against Russia.
3
The big takeaway is that checks and balances only work if our representatives in government remember they swore an oath to protect the Constitution. Given Pres. Trump's actions to date, congressional representatives with an "R" following their names have almost to a person failed in this critical responsibility.
But it was the Republican Party itself that helped create the environment which made Trump's candidacy possible by encouraging extreme positions through its partner right wing media. Russian interference was able to leverage that system to make Trump president.
Starting in November, Republicans need to go. My local GOP rep is on that list.
5
Trump's choice of cabinet secretaries who are "on the same page" as he is should make us all quake with fear and loathing. Judging by the performance of the Blatherer-in-Chief in Pennsylvania last weekend, it's an empty page.
3
Ross, don't flatter yourself saying that Trump may have read your columns. You, of all people, should know better than that. Don't take this the wrong way, Ross, but half the time we don't read them, either.
Your criticism of Trump was too little, too late, too kind. Kind of like bringing a pillow to a knife fight, if that helps you get my drift.
I've been known in times past to engage in recreational pharmaceutical experimentation, but I'll draw the line at trying whatever it is you've been smoking. This new "coterie of advisors" Trump hand picks to replace the nearly 3 dozen he's already fired most assuredly will be crazier and more psycho-phantic than the departed. Why, exactly do you think Sessions is still on the payroll, if not for his history of kissing nether areas?
Trump is remarkably quiet this morning, Ross, following his dismal failure to have another sycophant elected in Pennsylvania. But we, the voters, don't have any say in who he can install in his inner circle for the simple reason that he wants to.
You are not to be blamed for Trump's presence in the White House. Still, you failed to do enough, if you did anything, to prevent this disaster.
41
Trump unbound means Trump’s insatiable ego drives all policy. He needs to strut over “wins”. So look for either a “beautiful deal” in which the North Koreans sucker Trump into major concessions in exchange for conduct that cannot be verified until after 2020, or military action. On the domestic side, look for a wall-at-any-cost and a war on immigrants far more brutal than anything we have seen so far. Get ready for a Saturday night massacre that levels the Mueller investigation, swiftly followed by pardons for all, including himself.
3
The life of every man, woman, and child in America--indeed, on earth-- is in the hands of this angry, erratic, ignorant, narcissistic man. It's appalling and frightening that he was elected, and it's necessary that he be constrained. Until 2020 that will be up to Congress. The coming midterm elections may be the most important in our history.
9
Trump does not know how to "take charge."
He only knows how to demand fealty from his minions, so he will surround himself with even more yes-men and women.
As for the people Trump should have around him (ie. people of integrity, intelligence and experience)--he will continue to insult, smear with innuendo, and threaten to sue.
Trump feels threatened by such people, so whoever is left in the White House with those qualities better be polishing their CV's.
139
Once again Ross misses the point. Trump wants to replace "advisers" with "yes men" who will find him the stats and proof-points that confirm his pre-determined gut instincts. As in this quote from Peter Navarro, perhaps the man who will replace Cohn: "This is the president’s vision. My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm his intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters.”
The last thing Trump needs is sycophants around him because he is WRONG so often and doesn't understand that tariffs are basically a tax on the American people, not foreign governments. Our prices will be inflated, wiping away any benefit any middle class or working family gets from the tax bill.
The line that "corporate taxes are paid by consumers, collected by corporations" should mean that prices are going down now that the tax burden is lifted. But they are not going down because taxes are only a fractional part of what goes into determining the price of manufacturing a product. So now what if Trump, with the blessing of a Lawrence Kudlow, decides that American workers make too much money to be competitive and drives down wages? That could happen. In his mind it is reasonable.
This is not good. He needs to be challenged because his basic assumptions are wrong. Yes men won't do that. And neither will his shills in Congress.
2
We underscore how important Hope Hicks' departure was. She was essentially Daddy's little girl next to his real one. When all personal Trump Whispering departs, we're left with a dumb, lonely con man who can't stand the idea of governing almost as much as being with his wife. Trump will never be impeached, even if Dems win back Congress. But he will find a way to kick himself out and say he won.
1
The only thing this attention junkie president wants to be in charge of is the sound of applause to his ears.
If the campaign rally trump held in Pennsylvania this past weekend is any indication of trump in charge then we are indeed in HUGE trouble. (Not that we weren’t before that particular rally was broadcast.) The tone, the hatefulness and the blatant profanity uttered to a cheering, kowtowing crowd was concerning and frightening.
While I would prefer that the networks would just stop covering trumps need for self promotion, I would strongly suggest to any network planning to cover any future trump rally that the rally should be broadcast with a disclaimer that “ the content may be disturbing to some viewers, may contain profanity, racist, derogatory and misogynistic comments”. That disclaimer should be repeated at every commercial break.
When the students of a high school in Florida that was the site of a tragic school shooting can campaign for gun control in a more presidential manner than the president of the US can campaign for a Republican congressman, well, that says it all.
2
Hey, Ross:
Are you sure this is not a movie we're seeing?, If so, I think I've seen it before, and it ends well, (I hope).
Another squandered column from a member of the group that has by far the most influence on the course of our country. That 'good results rarely come from bad conduct' a major tenet of your tribe, needs to be shouted over and over again by you and your members. Its way past the time of 'It could be worse.'
2
Why are some now just wakening to the 'now' side of the 'now-how' man? To all the angst of now that has been since Nov. 8, 2016 when it was plainly evident at the start that this would not end well.
The ship of state is yawing wildly in heavy seas. There is a loose cannon on deck. It could go through the port rail. It could go through the starboard rail. Maybe it won't do either, but the rats are abandoning ship left and right. The first mate and the rest of the crew should be handing out life jackets but merely stand at their posts saying, "steady as she goes."
1
Do not fantasize about an unbound Trump,one freed from the constraints of some advisors who can protect him and us from his impulsive tendencies.No president presides over the Oval Office without the help and advice from experts.Most presidents seek out the best and the brightest.This past election was a disaster and the cast of characters are still talking to Mr.Mueller who will eventually put together the pieces of the puzzle.What is obvious is that Mr.Trump is an unprincipled liar who lacks the qualifications to be even a mediocre president.
1
Actually, Vladimir Putin is in charge. Trump will toe the line.
1
Interesting to read this column and be informed that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are characteristically “restrained” and that Trump’s Cabinet members during his administration’s first year could be described as “conventional.”
In fact, Trump’s White House has been a buzzing hive of incompetents, thieves, racists, and internationally experienced cheats from the beginning, and the congressional leaders of the GOP have colluded with them. Benefited from them. Check out their famously scribbled Tax Reform Plan and track down it’s key (wealthy) beneficiaries. Listen to Paul Ryan outline his plans to gut Medicare and Medicaid. Look into the eyes of Mitch McConnell and the white Republican men who stand behind him when he steps up to any microphone.
They’re all in it together.
It’s your Party, Ross, and you can cry if you want to.
622
Yes- and Donald Trump IS a Manchurian candidate. I don't care what your political persuasion is- he and his associates has demonstrated a closeness, subservience and obeisance to Putin and his authoritarian regime that is treasonous. There is an urgent imperative that Mueller's investigation expose this in a legal framework that compels impeachment.
1
"this time it seems less like something happening to Trump and more like chaos orchestrated from the Oval Office ..."
The above clause makes no sense to me, literally or figuratively. Maybe it's the by-now over-used word 'chaos', but I really don't get how a psychological state (fear) produced unorchestrated chaos and now self-assuredness is producing orchestrated chaos. (1) Do the NYT reporters know the president's state of mind then? and why wouldn't he be more fearful now than then? Or is not fear but anxiety? (2) 'Chaos' does not cover the actions and words of this president or his helpers. It rather makes the whole scene seem manageable. Reduce chaos, increase goodness?
If you are right, Mr. Douthat, God help us!
Don't worry about Trump reading your column. Too many big words and too long.
1
Douthat is an apologist. He pretends that Ryan and McConnell don't love the way Trump is dismantling the government. He focuses on Trump in column after column. Trump isn't the problem. Republicans are the problem. And Douthat is a Republican.
1
I can’t I can’t figure out why all these wise wonks haven’t twigged to the transparent fact that Trump is a totally owned subsidiary of Putin.
1
Rex Tillerson was an atrocious Secretary of State. He was also to a degree a constraint upon Donald Trump's most bizarre and frightening impulses. That constraint is now gone, especially with the rise of Pompeo.
In the ER we used to have a term for the most obvious of presentations: a glow-in the-dark diagnosis. Trump's behavior particularly recently constitutes a glow-in-the-dark presentation of a man who should not be allowed access to the nuclear codes for another day. He is transparently mentally deranged and unstable. He is absolutely capable of initiating a nuclear exchange with North Korea. This could happen. If it does we will have sacrificed our children and grandchildren's lives and futures, and possibly the survival of our nation, all to satisfy the pathologic urges of a single sick mind.
This is an emergency, and if we fail to respond in the face of all the evidence Mr. Trump has provided, we will be justly cursed by whatever is left of America.
10
Bravo, Sir. BRAVO.
saddle up bullseye its definitely gonna get worse. When the Republicans likely lose the house big time in November firing Mueller won't save him nor will a circle of sycophants. At best he is completely stymied legislatively at worse articles of impeachment are filed. Either way Trump under attack will bring more lies and frustration.
1
Might want to use it? He is using it, for money laundering every day. Why do you think the visitor log was shredded?
2
And in the mean time while we wait for Trump to really let his freak fly the country is coming apart. “Only I can fix it” is a man who is incapable of understanding how things work let alone how to fix things. Everything Trump/Republicans touch becomes degraded and ugly. They are not “good people” and it will not matter who Trump surrounds himself with, they will have to sell their soul to please their master.
1
As the old joke goes:
Cheer up! Things could be worse.
So I cheered up, and, sure enough, they got worse.
KJU knows that Trump is about to break the deal with Iran, which doesn't have nukes. So why would he expect Trump to honor a nuke deal with NK? Yet merely smiling, shaking hands and sitting down is a MAJOR victory for Kim over Trump, and everyone, but Trump, knows it.
Every dictator knows that if you smile and praise Trump, the fool will preen and strut and think he's done something big, when, in fact, he's destabilized the world even more. So Trump coddles the dictators, and alienates our best allies and closest neighbors. What President has ever simultaneously offended Canada, Mexico, Britain, Germany, Japan, Africa and Central America all at once?
1
Ross forgot to mention what happens when presidents seem to disappear once they're in office. That's precisely what happened when Bush 43 was in the Oval Office. I remember when bloggers complained that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney were really running this country. Dubya was nowhere to be found.
Donald Trump is proving to be a hands on president who keeps his own counsel. What's wrong with a president firing the people he doesn't want and replace them with people who share his philosophy?
9
If you can't see the problem with a president who has fired more of his own people (in just one year!) than any other president has done in four or eight years, and if you can't see the revolving door of an administration that can't attract or keep qualified people, then how does one even reply to you? Even devoted right wing Republicans are concerned by this. This is not an isolated incident. Step back and see the bigger picture, then come back and post something with a line of logic that is stronger than that of a middle school debate team.
11
The problem is not a president who uses his mind, the problem is having a president who's lost his mind.
6
Dubya did what lazy people of his class often do--delegate all the work to servants.
Trump doesn't work at the job enough to really be called a "hands-on president." He spends a large percentage of his time watching cable TV, blowing off steam in vicious Tweets, and playing golf. He lurches from fight to fight with no thought about the future implications. He's a loose cannon with no idea how government works. That includes choosing competent people to work with him. (Actually, he sees them all as working FOR him and not for the American people). He's a disaster.
10
Unfortunately, I truly believe that 2-3 years from now, when we have bombed Iran and started yet another Mid-East War ("This time we'll win!" Trump will exclaim), we will look back on the firing of Tillerson and the installation of Pompeo as the beginning of what led to that conflict. I hope I am wrong.
1
The man cant govern, he might as well campaign.
Campaign lies aren't meant to be serious. Right?!!!
1
Ross, here, I’ve shortened this:
As if there was ever any doubt, this is not going to end well.
1
God help us, for the GOP will not! Trump was constrained? In insults? In setting loose the dogs of racism and white supremacy? In helping American citizens in Puerto Rico? This notion of constraint tells us what is tolerable to Douthat, tolerable to the point of invisibility.
2
This idea that Trump has been constrained so far only makes sense from the standpoint of a Republican--even one who is critical of Trump, as Mr. Douthat can be.
Such a person says, "Hey, you know, we got a tax bill and a lot of business deregulation and a Supreme Court Justice, and we're not in a new war yet, and Obamacare is being debilitated one cut at a time, so, you know, it's okay."
I suspect the opinion is different in other circles, particularly those outside the US, but in a lot of them here, too. From that view, Trump has only been restrained in the sense that things can be poisoned a little bit at a time as well as by one massive dose.
5
IQ45 unleashed is a nightmare that our country will be hard-pressed to survive. He is about to surround himself with sycophants galore; people who are loyal only to him, not the country or the citizens of this country. He has the temperament and behaviors of a toddler, and the people he's about to put into major policy positions will only encourage his bad behaviors instead of reining him in. The US will continue to be isolated and alone in the world.
2
I'm confused. You write that with a new group of "TV personalities... Trump will feel that he picked them all by himself."
Didn't he pick the first group "all by himself." He certainly seems like he's fired them all by himself. He certainly picked Michael Flynn all by himself even after Obama told him not to.
And make no bones about it, this is no farce. It has been pure tragedy since Midnight November 6th 2016.
3
I never cease to be amazed by Ross Douthat's rhetorical prestidigitation, the sneaky, sophistical way he can frame our present national chaos into a story that somehow always manages to bolster right wing reactionaries. The idea that we have the Republicans to thank for "constraining" and "containing" their wayward President, a man who is just "out of the loop," like Nixon, Wilson, or Reagan, is ludicrous. Here's another, much more entertaining story: Trump has been Top Gun, the Republicans most reliable, steady, and steely-eyed wingman, using his Tweets as decoy-flares designed to evade, distract and destroy every possible attack on a far right, reactionary agenda favored by no one but the 1%. But now, when all Trumps flares suddenly seem on the verge of premature ignition, threatening to burn his entire Right Wing, Ross ejects, hoping to land with some semblance of intellectual honesty, personal morality, and professional integrity intact. This op-ed is just another parachute.
5
The tragedy has already began. A tax cut that will drive the US into bankruptcy is a tragedy indeed. Dreamers, real people with real souls, living in Limbo is a tragedy. Right wing nationalist undermining our national conscience is a tragedy.
3
I am not sure how a democracy can be trusted when its leader says one thing on Monday morning and says the opposite on Monday afternoon with equal vehemence, Why would North Korea trust Trump to negotiate a treaty if he is willing to unilaterally void the multilateral Iran treaty? Trump was for gun control measures until the next day after meeting with the NRA and being reminded that he was against it. And remember DACA? If a president's word carries no weight, how can he possibly govern? He can cause chaos, and is certainly succeeding there but Trump has already shown that nothing resembling governance is going to happen under his watch.
359
North Korea can safely negotiate a treaty, take the goodies and run. It doesn't matter whether Trump changes his mind and abrogates the treaty two days after it has been signed. North Korea will certainly be no worse off in terms of sanctions than it is now and the apparent fecklessness, incompetence and leaderless American administration will force South Korea, Japan and the rest of Asia to acknowledge Kim's legitimacy and reach whatever terms they can with him. They will know that they cannot count on the United States to defend them and that they must protect themselves against a powerful military that has nuclear weapons and a million men under arms.
Susan,
I live in a real democracy and I know how we respond. We throw the bums out. Quebec is a very liberal province both socially and fiscally. The Quebec Liberal Party has been in power for too long it is too corrupt and complacent and responds to criticism with all the traditional bells bells and whistles such as nationalism and blaming the Federal government. We are approaching an election and an electorate that is in line with your Bernie Sanders will vote for a real conservative party. This is what we call democracy. You have been given a false definition of freedom and democracy, real democracy means you are free to chose peace order and good government over plutocrats, oligarchs and labour leaders who see in governance an easy road to the food trough.
3
I have been reading the history composed by the Byzantine writer Niketas Choniates which covers the years leading up to the destruction of the Empire by the forces of the Fourth Crusade, and I am struck by the amazing parallels between the Trump presidency and the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I. Both are populists who desire to destroy the work of their well-regarded predecessors, both have scapegoated a segment of the population, and both severely damaged their government's bureaucracy. In the end, Andronikos I was torn limb from limb after his fan base finally turned on him (perhaps the Republicans should remember this). However, it was not the reign of Andronikos that caused the most damage to the State, it was the series of weak rulers which followed. One wonders if it was impossible for a strong emperor to follow the tyranny of Andronikos. And this is where I draw a disturbing parallel to our present political climate. I am not as afraid of the damage that Trump causes, as I am supremely worried about his weakening of the office of the presidency. It may be very difficult to elect a strong leader in the future and our government may be unable to function when a true threat occurs. Our weak government could well collapse under the stress...much like Constantinople in 1204.
3
Scott, you say you are "supremely worried about the weakening of the office of the Presidency." I have to say I never realized until the election of trump just how extensive the powers of the presidency were. Probably because either through philosophy or because of the necessity for compromise and cooperation, congress and the president tended to work out policy and programs together. Well, at least until President Obama, that is.
If anything, trump has seemed to strengthen the office because the republican congress has been too spineless to check his manic and incompetent actions - probably because the real focus of trump has been to increase his wealth and stroke his ego and the congress to keep their snouts in the public trough through re-election and fundraising from corporate lobbyists.
We don't need to give the president anymore power.
1
Did you write "exciting new steel tariffs"? I can think of a few adjectives that would work, but they wouldn't include "exciting." I'd say that's a case of "putting perfume on a pig."
2
The country is growing exceedingly tired of Trump, his chaotic white house, and Tasmanian devil style of management. Other then push though an unnecessary tax cut neither the Trump administration nor the Republican led congress have accomplished anything meaningful. Now they will be busy with confirmation hearings for Secretary of State and CIA. Meanwhile we yearn for and need our government to be hitting on all cylinders. Just not a possibility with Trump at the helm.
2
Just imagine a Trump free of the restraints. Just imagine a summit bout Little Rocket Man vs Trump. Negotiations by day and tweets by night. No matter what happens, Trump will return to declare triumph and total victory. Will it be Trump the Champ or Trump the Chump?
The Republican President will lead his Republican Party. Where will he take it? To the Promised Land, to the Vast Wilderness or just over the first cliff in sight. The smart money is not betting on the Promised Land.
2
I am not a praying person, but every day I find myself looking to Mr. Mueller's investigation and hoping desperately that it brings down this dangerous President of ours.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
6
As the more qualified people, at least in my view, leave the WH I don't fear the day to day stuff too much. In domestic policy the states and business seem to have picked up the slack and congress will do nothing as usual. On the international stage the world has written us off for now and short of starting a war with someone it will be OK for the next three years. My MAJOR FEAR is something out of the routine will happen and trump and his pals do not have the slightest idea what to do. I will always remember watching Bush in the Rose Garden live on TV while the economy was collapsing with that look of horror on his face.
1
It WILL be worse and worse until Congressional Repubs get any sort of backbone.
And they won't, because TAX CUTS!!
We're in for a really bad ride.
3
Not only it could be worse; it could be raining!
In case one missed it, this is a famous quote from a movie when they are digging a hole in a graveyard!
Young Frankenstein!!!!
We are still making the error of assuming that logic or a game plan are at work in Donald's World.
They are not - this man runs from shiny object to shiny object - he has the attention span of a three year old.
His cabinet choices are measured by one and only one quantifier - the amount of Toadiness that each dilettante has.
Please stop trying to equate The Donald with a rational person - it is folly.
3
It could be worse? It just GOT worse.
Look at the people filling in the slots after Tillerson: a hawk who advocated assassinating North Korea's leader (THAT'S going to help trump's negotiations for sure!) and a close participant in the war crime of torture as the head of the CIA (and arguably the one at the center of destroying evidence of the crimes).
Both sycophants and advocates of trump's darkest world views.
The worst Secretary of State in US history was just fired by one of the worst presidents in history, and replaced by someone even worse.
We are getting the worst of the worst rather than the "best" people. They are nothing but avatars of trump's own id.
And to suggest that trump is now even further "unbound" is to admit that our constitutional system of checks and balances so carefully fashioned by the founders of our government are failing even more miserably.
Follow the money.
trump hasn't been in place long enough to definitively qualify as the worst president in our history. But there is sufficient evidence to believe that when and IF all does come to light regarding the deep corruption and betrayal of America wrought by him in the name of money, ignorance and toxic narcissism, trump will undoubtedly qualify as the worst of the worst among our presidents.
416
A great assessment of what has come to be, and absolutely right about ' follow the money'. There has been no tragedy yet, other than the unknown stories of how ICE is currently operating, but there will be a major tragedy that unfolds before we are rid of Trump. How can it be any other way? The only thing that stands between America and tragedy is Trump's incompetence, but it's also the same thing that will create it. The thought that America will get through this current period unscathed in a virtual impossibility.
4
What's that old line?
Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does.
The Good Book, attempting to comfort us, though, promises that god will not punish us with more than we can bear. Unfortunately, the shelf life on that promise seems to have expired, at least since WWI. So Douthat's warning has a real chance of becoming reality, another Trumpian reality show, one where all of us are contestants, and all of us lose, even the host.
1
Once again I am reminded of the Twilight Zone episode, 'It's a Good Life', in which an emotionally immature boy with immense power both isolates and terrorizes the small town in which he lives. All the adults are afraid to act against him, lest he banish them to the 'cornfield', and are constantly praising what he does as 'good'.
Here is an excerpt from Rod Serling's introduction of that episode: "On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines—because they displeased him—and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages—just by using his mind." Substitute the US for 'Peaksville' and 'community', the power of the presidency for 'mind' and honesty, decency and democracy for 'automobiles, the electricity, the machines' and you have a description of what to expect if Trump Unbound is allowed to continue.
2
I am not sure that I agree that the folks surrounding Trump contained him. But that is a quibble, because I do agree that continuing to contain him won't happen.
That might be fine if I believed that he had the vision and the knowledge to lead. That he had an ounce of nuance or had the capability to comprehend both sides of his decisions. But Trump lacks nuance - tariffs good, treaties bad. Wall good, immigrants bad. Authority good, democratic process bad. And the person who seems to have the greatest policy influence is a 36 year old tyro with a similar lack of nuance but three times the zeal, Stephen Miller.
I also believe he will be around for another cycle, because I believe that the GOP election machine is the only efficient and effective thing in government.
Buckle up folks. And hide your cash in the mattress, because good times are ahead.
Addictions end badly. America's gateway drug is the notion that one may create his or her own reality without consequences. For at least a generation, Americans have been manipulated by those who are willing to use their clear preference for fantasy over reality. Mama always warned that even though fright clowns like Hannity and Beck don't seem that dangerous, they do lead to a craving for the hard stuff.
And now the hard stuff is in the White House, appointing a delusional intellectual lightweight to head the State Department and a woman who tortured to head our worldwide spy network. Even Ross, who has put aside his moral principles in order to support a party that believes that religious legend is more real and valid than scientific evidence of climate change, is concerned. However, how much did you think you could encourage the unwary to sample the goods before their eyes glazed over and you lost control of them?
America, step back and look at yourself. Children are being gunned down, storms are becoming more severe, police departments are outfitted for the Battle of Guadalcanal, and this week the GOP committee in the House came to the conclusion that Russia interfered in our election but not to help the guy who was slated to lose.
The monkey is not on America's back. It's watching Fox and Friends and seeing how far it can press the red button before something dire happens.
2
This opinion is filled with hyperbole and fanaticism. Speculation would be a compliment. Trump at a little over one year on the job is making sure that all pistons are firing. His leadership is getting excellent results on jobs, immigration and N Korea. His success will now accelerate.
"Maybe Mike Pompeo . . . and some combination of TV personalities can do better at managing the president in the long run than the Cohns and Tillersons and McMasters, because Trump will feel that he picked them all by himself."
Managing the president? And "maybe" the Easter Bunny will put a new Lexus in all of our driveways.
Mr. Douthat's hypothesis falls apart on two counts. One, loyalty always has and always will be a one-way street for Trump. He demands unquestioned loyalty from others, but won't exhibit an ounce of loyalty to anyone else.
Second, Trump is incapable of feeling shame. And, like so many things about Trump, this is not normal. Normal people would likely experience feelings of angst and shame over hiring the wrong person, and later having to fire him (it's usually a "him"). That won't be a problem for Trump.
It all, inescapably, comes down to his character. All else emanates from there.
The Trump presidency has never failed to disappoint me. I started by thinking that even a failed businessman would be a competent administrator and was proven wrong. Every time I feel it can’t get worse it does. As it seems to me this is the only prediction concerning the Trump presidency that is likely to prove correct.
As always, Douthat misses the point. He wonders if Trump and our nation will descend into tragedy, when we are already there.
2
Mr. Douthat has written columns that suggest he sees that the "conservative" Republican ideology won't, and can't, address the serious problems we face. How is making health insurance less accessible good for people? Really?
How is that tax bill that does little or nothing to ameliorate inequality good for the economy?
Trump falls back on rally speeches to fire up his base, but even that is more about making himself feel good than dealing with policy issues.
What will happen now that Trump realizes that people were trying to constrain him and rebels against that constrain? Don't forget that he also fired Steve Bannon apparently because he thought Bannon was getting too big for his britches.
One predictable outcome of this is that palace intrigue will get more intense. Pompeo may be able to "manage" the president. Steve Miller seems to have found a formula that works. This is nothing that conservatives should applaud.
Bottom line is that this may destroy the Republican party. It has already been distorted into something that Republican stalwarts of previous generations wouldn't recognize. In many places there are more people who choose to be unaffiliated with any political party than either Republicans or Democrats.
Don't forget that instability is dangerous. Trump may enjoy chaos, but it rarely turns out well after the ruthless exploit the opportunities. It could be worse and, sadly, it probably will be worse.
1
I agree with the main thesis of this column: the domesticated bear is on the loose but ill fitted for the wild the bear will not survive for long.
1
The really strange part of all this is that the conventional Republicans are an even bigger threat to peace and prosperity than a completely unchained Trump would be. A deadlock between them would be the best of all possible outcomes as we await a chance to get back on track with the midterms.
1
Again, it seems like we are hoping for the impossible to become possible. No matter what, just as the great Steven Hawkins said
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." And Trump has that in spades!!!
2
Trump has been largely contained by his handlers, to the benefit of the donor class. But will their greed be our undoing, as control over Trump is lost?
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/25/koch-brothers-trump-administration/
The descent from farce to tragedy began the night he was elected. No one can possibly guess what is going to happen from day to day in the White House except that whatever happens will not be good. Republicans think we Democrats hate the president. We don't hate him, we just know that he was and is totally unfit to be president. He's a laughing stock and one could almost feel sorry for him except he's dangerous. I hope we don't ever have to find out how dangerous he can be.
1
Trump is simply like a rubber ball bouncing here and there. One never really knows where it will go. Trump like a rubber ball has no conscious, no sense of right or wrong, and really quite unpredictable. A rubber ball is a sphere of rubber with air captured in its insides. Other than its skin it has no substance. Take its surface away and there is nothing. Trump can surround himself with as many individuals he likes or compliments him-but in the inside it is still a hollow empty sphere of air.
A president should take charge. Why would we want a president whom we do not want to take charge? The logic of such thinking is farce, wrong to start with. Now it seems, it doesn't.
This shows not just a fail presidency, but more importantly, a failed Congress, failed electorate, and failed democracy. In a democracy, the failures are on us, the people. We the people have failed to do our job of being properly informed and voting wisely.
I find it very difficult to understand why any Americans should still think this president cares about us and is acting in our best interests.
1
Ross the majority of us figured this out a long 18 months ago. Please take back any endorsement of the GOP enablers and their Dear Leader. Impeachment may the only solution and all are going to eventually agree.
1
When will Douthat join the small (ok, tiny) list of principled conservatives and call, not for "containment and constraint," but for the removal of a President that is so clearly unhinged, so contemptuous of long-held norms, and so driven by base instincts?
4
This is odd, I thought that Trump was in charge from the moment he took the oath of office.
What IS already worse is what Trump is doing to the U.S. presidency, running it like a small, family-owned business where blind loyalty to the owner is the only trait with any value.
Trump will be gone soon enough. His damage inflicted on our national sense of dignity and purpose, our belief that ideas mean more than personality, may never fully be undone.
2
It's not a cliche to say we are being ruled by a very dark countenance . We now have a torturer leading the CIA. Oh , but she's a good administrator. Doesn't take much to get a security clearance ( I shudder to think what Jared did to prevent him from getting one). Trump is blowing up everything and we'd better learn how to duck and cover.
2
Three words explain everything Trump will do in the coming months: Wag the dog. Knowing full well the extent of the case Mueller is amassing against him, Trump is clearing the decks of any adults hesitant to “punch the nose” of North Korea and/or Iran — or possibly object to a very dangerous confrontation with Russia if that’s what is necessary to distract from evidence of actual collusion. Like Kim Jong Un, Trump has one goal only, the survival of his regime, not because he believes he can still Make America Great Again, but because regime survival (which relies on a spineless GOP Congress) is all that stands between Trump and utter disgrace, if not a jail cell.
1
As one with an armchair interest in politics, it is notable the number of political analysts who give each new president a clean slate. Trump’s administration, however, was a tragedy from day one. The public, those informed and not easily scammed, knew Donald Trump was a conman, a liar, corrupt, and a philanderer. There is no higher level of positive character, decency, or integrity to which one can automatically ascend upon taking an oath of office. When one must hope a new president will take the job seriously along with the great responsibilities, then watch as chaos grows in the administration daily, there is a problem.
While Mr. Douthat apparently is just recognizing what others saw from day one of the Trump presidency, he should consider the threat posed to our liberal democracy and economy not only by this president, but by a Congress that refuses to take their jobs seriously and act as a check on the Executive.
516
I couldn't agree more. I would only add that because prior Congresses also refused to take their jobs seriously they created the environment in which a Trump presidency could happen in the first place.
3
If you read Douthat, you know that he is not "just recognizing what others saw from day one..." Best not to comment based unless acquainted with the subject.
1
"When Trump Takes Charge" is when the Reality TV President Takes Charge, with an incurious, uninformed, twittering, moronic Narcissus playing the cheesy role of the Reality TV President.
Because the Trump National Enquirer Presidency is predicated on America's lowest common denominators of racism, white spite and cultured stupidity and the magic of the tabloid media, nothing good can possibly come of it...except. of course, for incredible ratings, which the Trump debacle has had from day one of its political debut.
The so-called Trump Presidency is America's political Rosemary's Baby, a horrifying delivery of ignorance, fear, loathing, stupidity and incompetence caused by American's right-wing psychopathic, nihilistic obsession with raw power.
So deranged is the Greed Over People caucus that they make a complete mockery and a scam out of American democracy via massive voter suppression, gerrymander, Senate obstruction and Electoral College, no matter whether Frankenstein on Russian steroids occupies the Oval Office.
Donald Trump is a tabloid press Svengali; that is his one and only talent in life....Twitter, the National Enquirer, Infowars, Breitbart, the Fake News channel ...these hot air fans that generate non-stop logorrhea and political toxin represent the entire breadth of his fake Presidency.
When Trump Takes Charge, America gets a giant floating orange log in the Oval Office.
Time to flush the Trump Toilet and its Republican political Frankenstein into the sewer.
111
While many Dems may wish for impeachment...and he certainly deserves it if half of what is being investigated turns out to be true, I'd rather he just be disabled by a Blue wave come November and an Congress that won't go along with Trump's more egregious power grabs and unrestrained bouts of childish bullying. Impeachment may alienate large segments of the country when we need to start pulling together. I am hoping that the blinders come off and his supporters finally see him for what he really is:incompetent.
73
Mary, you seem to forget that Trump can launch wars on Iran and North Korea AT WILL. He doesn't need Congressional support to create these mega-disasters to achieve the weakening of America Trump's puppet master Putin put him office for.
2
Unfortunately, we have yet to see the Democratic Party get behind a unified response to anything, starting with Ronald the Reagan right up to the present. Of course, past performance is no predictor of future performance
... insert smiley face here??
3
Maybe because there is so much damage inflicted whenever the GOP is in charge that the Dems have too many issues to chase down and correct.
3
I was watching one of the late night hosts jabbing at Trump last night and I thought to myself that Trump is no longer an appropriate target for humor. He has moved unfettered into very dangerous territory and we are all in grave danger. That is no laughing matter. The Republican leadership needs to step up and step in and send Trump out into the darkness or Moscow or wherever he can do no harm. And they need to act now. Surely not even the Koch brothers are happy about this situation.
134
They won’t though, Shame on them.
3
The Kochs own Pompeo.
1
I believe the Koch Brothers are served extremely well by Trump. I believe at least one major Republican Mega Rich Donor is complicit with the Russians in electing Trump with laundered Russian money and I will not be surprised to find the Koch Brothers in on this. One must remember that the rich in this country have tried this before, before WW2, when the likes of Prescott Bush planned to assassinate FDR and join the Nazis. This is the monster at the end of all Republican power play books. Populism becomes dictatorship, it's where Republicans want to go in their heart of hearts, if you can even call that a heart.
6
"It could be worse." This is the measure of the American presidency now? And the most optimistic measure at that.
105
It could be different; it could be worse opines Ross. One thing is certain the narrative of the Trump presidency has been set. He will never escape the "Rusher" cloud regardless of what Mueller ultimately reveals. But he will continue to be supported by a minority of Americans (as he was elected) and will not get beyond the question of legitimacy. Having said that he can still take a lot of action that will result in major consequences for America and the world; good or bad. No one can convince me, however, that his chaotic presidency is a necessary purge of our previous status or that his brinkmanship is a worthwhile tool in geopolitics. Fasten your seatbelts for the unintended consequences.
44
If you care about the country or the Republican Party, you should be doing everything possible to light a fire under the current Congressional leadership to initiate impeachment or support an (unlikely) invocation of the 25th amendment.
At the very least, newly nominated cabinet officials should be grilled about their knowledge and understanding of the 25th amendment and pressed to explain under what circumstances they would invoke it.
64
Impeachment would be a serious mistake. The word needs to be erased from the political lexicon. This is a matter to be settled at the ballot box.
The Dems used impeachment on Nixon. The Repubs used it on Clinton. That's enough.
1
Good article; however, it is missing one salient observation. Trump is President of the United States of America. He can do anything. It is called, "That's the way it is.". The illusion is eroding.
13
If the past few weeks are indicative of what the next few years will look like, the world isn't ready nor can it prepare. Since the end of WWII, peace in the west has been maintained through some sense of stability and predictability. That will end now that Trump feels unshackled. Trusted allies will go their own way while we cozy up to the Russians. China will greatly expand its economic influence in the Far East because Trump has thumbed his nose at enduring agreements the United States built over decades of partnership.
Perhaps this would all be fine if there were some overarching goals and strategies governing the president's thinking. But, if we have learned anything in the past 15 months, there are no goals and no strategies. It is a jumbled mess of tactics and arbitrary actions. Indeed, the term "strategic alliances" will become meaningless and antiquated.
If this sounds ominous, then VOTE! And pray we can all hold out until the polling stations open and that the Russians don't change your ballot.
110
Constrained by his handlers! Why did he need handlers? Why ignore the volumes of evidence, mainly coming from Trump himself in pre-dawn tweets? He never really paid attention to anyone, except those who parroted his fantasies and supported his lies!
Occasionally, the effort to reframe Trump becomes so absurd it incites laughter: Trump still can't coordinate or execute policy. The three biggest events of the last 10 days—the North Korea meeting, tariffs, the Tillerson firing--were announced over twitter without warning to cabinet or impacted agencies.
Ross, there is no there, there! Charles Blow points out Trump vacillates and backtracks, he doubles down on both sides, he indulges in blame-claims, and his lines in the sand are divorced from global reality. He, who brags about sex, won't face the issue of a consensual affair, pretending a arms-length payout for silence was made for something that didn't happen!
In a thousand ways every day, Trump has shown himself to be incapable and unfit. Distractions about “his” legislative agenda deny—and try to normalize—his flights of madness: a martial parade of strum and drang, his fetish for building a wall to make up for his small hands, his sole intention to memorialize himself at every turn, his support of a teenage stalker, his demeaning of women, his support for white supremacists, his savage appetite for calls for violence, shows, as Maya Angelou noted, we have seen his true, and only, self. We are getting more of the same.
218
Trump's turnover and unfilled positions across government, whether through negligence, dismals or folk jumping ship belies his contempt for process and procedures, details and procotol, balanced debate, or options and planning, values and directions. He is sound and fury, but has no sea legs!
4
Mr. Douthart implies that Trumps programs are different than that of the current leadership in the Republican Party. Not True. The Ryan and McConnell leadership may put lipstick on the pig they promote but it is the same pig.
206
"But if it eventually does get worse, a week like this one, with a president chafing against his bonds and snapping some of them, is how a descent from farce to tragedy might begin."
What do you mean, "If"?? Trump unbound is obviously scarier than Trump constrained.
Last weekend, the NYT began an important series on why so many Americans don't vote. Perhaps if everyone of us, no matter where we live, makes a point of stressing the power of the vote--particularly the point that every vote does count, as we saw last night in the PA election cliffhanger--we can help raise turnout this fall.
Because, Trump unbound could start actually implementing many of the tyrannical impulses he raves about in his tweets: suppression of the free press, greater interference in the judicial department, and an order to unseat the Special Prosecutor.
And if Congress didn't react to Trump constrained, well, I'm pretty sure they won't check Trump unbound either.
And that makes for a very rough ride, because we know how much Trump envies authoritarians and oligarchs who act with impunity.
I think the Constitutional Crisis we keep talking about has just begun.
309
I think that Trump unbound will start acting really outrageously, more blatantly criminal and possibly tip the scales within his party against him. When the verbal diarrhea morphs into full blown tourette's they may not have a choice. I think he will accelerate the ongoing massacre and change out his entire cabinet to reflect the chaos, fear and loathing within him. He will continue to head-butt the constitution and in doing so start to alarm even those who profit from his occupancy in the oval. He will reveal himself in word and deed more and more, and more of us will recoil in horror. His attacks on the press will become more vile, more frequent and less coherent. That behavior will spread to other cornerstones of democracy. All the while the Mueller investigation proceeds like a gathering storm. There will come a point where lightning must strike.
13
I'm very much afraid that the "lightning" will be Trump's firing of Mueller. And the Republican Congress' acquiescence in that firing.
3
Not turning out to vote is one thing, but to me the elephant in the room that is never discussed is the number of people who ignore the pestering pollsters. In my 72nd year on this planet, my instincts tell me that way more people couldn't be bothered with pollsters, let alone telling the truth about whether or for whom they'd vote. I suspect the people who respond to pollsters actually would seek them out. And "focus groups"--give me a break. The bias is stunning. Yet the amount of dollars and media time spent on "what the polls say" is obscene and never questioned.
1
It will be worse and worse and worse, at least until the House changes leadership.
It's going to be a long and brutal journey until 2020.
384
It's like being on a four-year long airplane ride with constant turbulence. Will we make it or not?
184
If you're using the airplane ride analogy, you can also extend it to recent suicide missions; a co-pilot locking the pilot out of the cockpit and crashing his plane into the Alps, another one perhaps somehow incapacitating his crew and passengers and navigation and heading out on a long lonely journey to the South Indian Ocean. Trump is delusional enough to be unconscious of the evil he is doing. We could all crash and burn.
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Don't forget the little kid who sits behind you on the plane and won't stop kicking the back of your seat!
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