This moment in the nation’s political history will either be remembered as the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency, or the beginning of its reconstitution.
Donald Trump has been down before, and counted out by many.
He has amazing personal and political resilience. The man is not a quitter.
He also has an amazing capacity for self-inflicted wounds.
The capacity for resilience is matched by several past presidents — Jackson, both Roosevelts, Lincoln, and Truman.
The capacity for self-inflicted wounds is perhaps unmatched by any president. Richard Nixon, prior to his presidency, only came unglued in public once. After a bruising defeat for the governorship of California in 1962, he told the press it would not have “Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.”
But he never argued publicly with beauty queens or Gold Star parents, as Mr. Trump did during his presidential campaign.
What was telling about those feuds? They didn’t matter, and they could not be won. They were distractions from the task at hand — winning an election.
Last week, the President faced two grave accusations that constitute the ultimate distraction: First, that he divulged classified material that could harm intelligence sources to two high-ranking Russian visitors to the Oval Office and, second, that he asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation into Gen. Mike Flynn. (Mr. Flynn was Mr. Trump’s security adviser during the campaign and briefly his White House national security adviser before Mr. Trump fired him for lying to him.) Such a request would be highly inappropriate at best, and, in the broad if not narrow legal sense, it could be seen as obstruction of justice.
Now, those two accusations are not self-inflicted, and they are also unproven. Indeed, the current national security adviser, his deputy, and the secretary of state all say they were in the room and what the President divulged was “wholly appropriate” and mostly publicly reported information that endangered no one.
The even more serious charge, made by a Comey “associate,” cannot be verified, and the President flatly denies it. The President’s spokesman says he has never asked anyone to stop any investigation.
There is no evidence that the President has done anything impeachable, illegal, or unpatriotic. To the contrary. So what is really going on here?
There are only two reasons to believe the worst about the President of the United States. One is hate (and some, including many in the media, will never give up their Trump hatred). The second is fear. Many Americans, who do not hate the President and, in fact, voted for him and rather like him, worry that he is not up to the job. They fear that he lacks the judgment and character to be a successful president.
These charges have sticking power because the President so often seems to have poor judgment. The Comey firing was one thing (though it was probably poor judgment to dismiss Mr. Comey before the Russia inquiry was completed). But what came after the firing displayed even worse judgment — the statement that the President would have fired Mr. Comey even without a recommendation from the Justice Department, for example, or the hint (threat? promise?) of White House tapes.
In the case of the Comey firing, the deputy attorney general bailed the President out. And in the case of the Russian meeting, Gen. H.R. McMaster bailed him out — in both cases quite legitimately. But the President dove back into deep waters on his own accord. He could not leave bad enough alone.
Even the wildest accusations against the President have sticking and staying power because the President often seems careless, no reckless, with words and indiscriminate in choosing his battles.
And many Americans who are on Mr. Trump’s side are now worried.
The irony is that, when he picked his Cabinet, or when he had to fire and replace General Flynn, or when he had to make a decision about Syria and the mass killing of innocents, the President seemed to possess sound and sober judgment. And when he tries to keep his promises, or he defends cops, or he speaks with passion about trade and what NAFTA did to cities like Toledo, he seems to have character.
But the self-inflicted wounds have stopped the Trump agenda in its tracks — tax reform, health insurance reform, and rebuilding national infrastructure are all in limbo.
There is a way back, and it is simple, though it will not be easy (the Never Trumpers and haters will never go away), and the window is brief.
Here is the formula:
● First, the President should hire a completely apolitical top cop or prosecutor to head the FBI. This is what Republicans, as well as Democrats, on the Hill are urging and they are right: No politicians. Find the moral equivalent of H.R. McMaster to head the FBI.
● Second, the President should hire a new chief of staff and give that person the power he needs to get the White House in order. He must have the President’s confidence but also his ear — the power to occasionally say: “Bad idea, sir.”
● Third, the President must end his personal war with the press and the intelligence community. He need not like or trust either. But there is nothing to be gained by constantly attacking either power elite, both of which have already done him great harm.
● Fourth, the President must learn to shut up. He must not respond to every attack. He must be Olympian. He must be focused. Let the Washington Post attack. Don’t respond. Work the agenda. Use tweets for that. As one veteran Ohio Republican said privately this week: “When it is about you, and not your agenda or the people, you are in trouble.”
Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Our system is not built for constant turbulence. It needs a certain equilibrium. It is being tested. Donald Trump is being tested, too.
Keith C. Burris is the editorial page editor of The Blade. Contact him at: kburris@theblade.com or 419-724-6266.
First Published May 21, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
