Mediaboss Marketing

Early last week, a friend who is generally supportive of President Trump offered his view that the president had only one move remaining firing special counsel Robert Mueller.

By weeks end, my friend had a different view: The president is in a box without a clear escape hatch. Im not sure how he gets out of this, he said wearily.

Those conversations bookend the worst week of the Trump presidency, which ended with another shake-up. By removing Reince Priebus as chief of staff and replacing him with Gen. John Kelly from Homeland Security, Trump aims to bring a semblance of military order and discipline to the White House.

Given Trumps respect for Kelly, the move could mark an important turning point in focusing the presidents time and efforts. Too many days have been squandered by leaks and conflicting and even contradictory messages.

But to understand the complexity of Trumps challenge and the limits of what Kelly can fix, it is useful to divide the presidents problems into two baskets.

The first basket includes the low moments of last week the collapse of the ObamaCare repeal effort, Anthony Scaramuccis profane attack on Priebus and Steve Bannon and the fact that Trumps declaration of a ban on transgenders serving in the military caught the Pentagon off guard.

Kelly, if Trump lets him, could fix or prevent all that.

Yet as significant as those events were, the problems in the second basket are potentially more serious. They center on the rupture between Trump and leading Republicans over Mueller and the presidents battering of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump repeatedly calls the probe a witch hunt and has discussed firing Mueller, while most Republicans trust Mueller and are willing to let his investigation run its course.

Similarly, GOP leaders like and respect Sessions and believe Trumps attacks on him are unfair. They dont believe Sessions deserves to be fired.

One sign of the rupture came from Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary committee, who said in a Wednesday tweet that the panels schedule is set for the year and there is no time to confirm a new Attorney General.

The point was clear: Trump shouldnt even think about firing Sessions.

The next day, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina upped the ante, saying, any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency unless Mueller did something wrong.

He added that he will introduce legislation to block any attempts to fire the special counsel without judicial review and said he was certain all Democrats and many Republicans would support him.

The sense that Trump is being curbed and isolated was bolstered when bipartisan, veto-proof majorities in both houses agreed on legislation that requires congressional approval to lift the latest round of sanctions imposed on Russia. Until now, the president could unilaterally remove them.

Trumps predicament recalls a scene in Ernest Hemingways novel, The Sun Also Rises.

How did you go bankrupt, one character asks another, who responds: Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.

So it is with Trump. Problems, some of them self-inflicted, that looked temporary and manageable have been compounded over time and are reaching a crisis point. Most important, he is losing flexibility to act just as Mueller expands his probe into Trumps business empire as well as his 2016 campaign.

Various reports say the special counsel, who is amassing a small army of prosecutors, is going through Trumps career, including his taxes and property sales, to find any connections with Russians that might indicate collusion in the election.

I also believe Muellers aggressiveness helps explain Trumps stepped-up attacks on Sessions, whose recusal led to Muellers appointment.

When Sessions, citing Justice Department regulations, stepped aside from any matter involving the 2016 campaign, he put the power in the hands of his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller after Trump fired FBI director James Comey.

More than a month ago, I urged Trump to replace Sessions so he could have someone to oversee Mueller and keep him from going beyond the initial assignment. But the revolt by the former Alabamas Senators colleagues has blocked that path, and Sessions has rejected invitations to resign.

Hence, the conclusion that the president is trapped with no protection or escape from Mueller.

Trump, of course, has been counted out many times in the last two years, but always managed to bounce back. He could do it again because he retains enthusiastic support among most of those who voted for him, and less White House chaos and a big victory on tax reform could fuel another comeback.

As a bonus, strong public support would keep congressional Republicans in his corner.

But the uncertainty about where Mueller is going and what, if anything, he is finding adds a unique dimension to Trumps troubles. Thats what makes this situation so perilous.

Chicago killing itself

The bloody stat of the week, from the Chicago Tribune:

Chicago had 50 more homicides than New York and Los Angeles combined through mid-June, even though it is far less populous than both.

Aisle be damned

Dueling headlines from America the confused:

Americans arent getting married

Support for polygamy at all time high

Truth about DeBs lies

This time, and this time only, you can trust him. Mayor de Blasio is telling the truth when he says: Read my lips: I dont care.

That was his reaction when reporters caught him in yet another lie. After the Post reported that police had been ordered to sweep the homeless from subway stations before the mayor took a brief ride, he and his team denied it.

When The Post produced the NYPD memo to prove it, his press secretary said the memo was probably fake, and the mayor offered his I dont care response.

Perhaps it was a Freudian slip that he began with read my lips, which was the phrase President George H.W. Bush used when he pledged no new taxes.

Of course, tax hikes soon followed.

De Blasios habit of dishonesty is becoming legendary. Reporters are still waiting for the list of donors who didnt get what they wanted from his City Hall a list he first promised in May of 2016 and several times since.

My guess is there is no list because there are no donors who didnt get favors.

The mayors chronic deception presents the New York Times with a problem. The Gray Lady routinely calls President Trump a liar, but never uses the L-word for Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Andrew Cuomo.

Now that de Blasio clearly qualifies, will the Times play it straight and call him what he is?

Sure when hell freezes over.

Continue reading here:
Donald Trump is becoming trapped - New York Post