An increasingly cornered Trump, beset on many fronts, lashed out in frustration this week, often to his own detriment.
Trump Confirmed His Intent to Shut Down the Government If He Does Not Get His Wall
On Monday, the U.S. Treasury announced that U.S. government borrowing in the second half of this year will spring to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis; the annual budget shortfall will rise to $1 trillion by 2020. Trump’s massive tax cuts that greatly favored corporations and the wealthy were supposed to generate so much additional economic activity that the increased taxes would pay for the cuts. That is not happening.
Earlier Trump had promised Republican leaders that he would not shut down the government in September if he didn’t receive funding for his Mexican border wall. On Tuesday Trump said he didn’t “care about the political ramifications” and renewed his shutdown threat. Doing that would very likely harm Republicans and boost Democrats in the 2018 elections.
Trump Reverted to Denying Russian Election Interference
On Tuesday Facebook said it located a coordinated disinformation campaign regarding the upcoming 2018 elections. While it might be the 400-pound guy Trump once blamed, the operation had the markings of another Russian operation.
On Thursday, top U.S. intelligence officials spoke of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2018 elections as they did in 2016. Only hours later Trump said at a Pennsylvania campaign rally that his diplomatic endeavors with Putin “are being hindered by the Russian hoax.” That should certainly help convince Americans in the wake of the Helsinki summit that Trump is not a Russian asset.
Trump Claimed Collusion is Not a Crime and Demanded the End of the Mueller Investigation
The trial of Paul Manafort, one of Trump’s campaign managers, started Tuesday. Manafort is charged with fraud and failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars he received from the Ukrainian government to advise pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych. While the trial does not involve any claims of conspiracy with Russia regarding the 2016 election, one danger for Trump is that a conviction could result in Manafort agreeing to testify against Trump in return for leniency.
Also on Tuesday, Trump started parroting Rudy Giuliani’s line that “collusion” is not a crime. That seems an admission that the Trump organization colluded with the Russians. Technically Trump is correct: The crime is actually conspiracy, not collusion, but the two words mean the same. It’s rather like attorneys using the word “conversion” rather than “theft”.
On Wednesday, Trump claimed that Paul Manafort was being treated worse than gangster Al Capone. It’s doubtful Trump really wants to compare his former campaign manager to Al Capone, who famously was convicted for tax evasion.
That same day Trump tweeted that the Manafort prosecution was “a hoax” and, regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, that “Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now….” That immediately led to charges that Trump was trying to obstruct justice, a crime in its own right.
Trump Reiterated that the Press is the “Enemy of the People”
Perhaps not surprisingly given Trump’s anti-press rhetoric, at a Trump rally Tuesday night in Tampa angry Trump supporters booed, cursed and flipped off CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who was covering the rally. That generated concerns about the safety of reporters.
On Thursday Ivanka Trump said in an interview that the press is not the enemy of the people.
Later that day, Acosta asked Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to confirm that the administration does not believe the press is the “enemy of the people”. Huckabee refused to say.
The phrase “enemy of the people” has a long and inglorious history, being used by luminaries such as Robespierre (during the French Reign of Terror), Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and especially Stalin. Needless to say, those branded “enemies of the people” have not fared well.
After the press conference Trump clarified: “They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!” Presumably that means all the media except Fox News. The question is whether Trump’s words will lead to violence against the media. If so, he will be responsible.