By Mel Gurtov
   Day by day the Trump administration is coming apart. Revelations abound about the dysfunctions of the Trump team, about Trumpâs ignorance and incompetence, and now about a âresistanceâ group in the White House that is actively countering Trumpâs âamoralityâ and âerraticâ leadership style. Donald Trump surely canât last much longer. Or can he?
We might all be guilty of wishful thinking here. Yes, between Bob Woodwardâs Fear and Mr. (or Ms.) Anonymousâ assault on Trumpâs character, you would think any normal leader would decide that enough is enough. But Donald Trump isnât a normal leader with normal emotions. As Woodward reports, he believes in never taking a backward step, never apologizing, never showing weakness. Heâs like Hitler in his bunkerâexcept that Trump wonât commit suicide.
More importantly, Trump hasnât been mortally wounded by any of the books about him. Nor has the anonymous op-ed really exposed new and terrible things about Trumpâs character that we didnât already know. In fact, the op-ed supports Trump in two ways. First, the writer claims that some officials are âworking diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda.â S/he acknowledges that Trump has delivered on key campaign promises beloved to both his base and Republicans in Congress: âeffective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.â What the writer, possibly a senior intelligence official, most resents is Trumpâs performance in foreign affairs, such as his embrace of dictators, his trade policy, and treatment of alliesâin short, his unfitness to be a commander in chief. Major defects, to be sure, but evidently not serious enough for the writer to resign in protest.
Second, Trump, with help from Steve Bannon, has consistently maintained that a âdeep stateâ has been undermining his presidency since day one. Now along comes a âsenior officialâ whom Trump can say proves the existence of the deep state, giving life to Woodwardâs stories about other officials who have all along engaged in acts of bureaucratic sabotage. Trumpâs cry of âtreasonâ may seem credible to many.
When the smoke clears for the umpteenth time in this absurd presidency, we may find ourselves still at square one, hoping for electoral victories in November and the start of impeachment proceedings in January. Weâre no closer than we were a few days ago to mass White House defections, Congressional Republicans turning on Trump, or people in âthe baseâ suddenly realizing what a jerk they elected. Meanwhile, Brett Kavanaugh is a day closer to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, many children remain separated by ICE from their families, shootings continue unabated, and bad news mounts on climate change. So letâs get back to work.
