Trump means whatever his people say he means
By Eugene Robinson
Everybody seems to know what President Trump wants except President Trump.
He was foolish enough to believe he wanted a deal that would allow 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought here as children to stay. An arrogant 32-year-old White House aide, Stephen Miller, had to set the president straight: No, Trump learned, apparently he does not seek a fair and compassionate agreement on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after all.
Trump thought he wanted a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border, with Mexico paying the cost. Chief of staff John Kelly had to explain to members of Congress that Trump never really meant a wall per se, but rather something more like a sketchy, intermittent fence. In a tweet attempting to reign in Kelly, Trump nonetheless asked U.S. taxpayers to ante up $20 billion to build it.
The president still believes he wants Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invoke the “nuclear option” and change the rules to allow legislation to pass with just 51 votes. Aides and allies have tried mightily to point out that McConnell doesn’t have 51 GOP votes he can rely on — which means that going nuclear would only force Republicans to stop blaming their own dysfunction on the Democrats.
Trump, bless his cold little cinder of a heart, remains under the impression that he calls the shots on administration policy. Is he so engrossed in what he obviously views as his most urgent task — watching hours and hours of cable news — that he doesn’t see how he has become marginalized? Is he so dense that he doesn’t realize he’s not being served by friends and supporters, but rather being used?
Those are rhetorical questions. Trump has always wanted to preside, not actually lead; and whenever he strays into the weeds of policy, he gets hopelessly lost.
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