The Week in Washington: Trump’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
“I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession,” President Trump tweeted on Friday, just hours after he capitulated to the Democrats, agreeing to temporarily end the partial government shutdown without receiving even one red cent for his infernal border wall. His unconditional surrender came after a week of blustery tweets that even included a poem: On Wednesday, the President wrote, “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray!” Alas, the power of prayer once again failed to deliver—two days later, the wall had turned into a humiliating cave. As Trump’s erstwhile comrade Ann Coulter tweeted pithily: “Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States.”
There are a number of theories as to why Trump folded: was it the disaster just waiting to happen at the nation’s airports, where air traffic controllers and TSA workers were calling in sick in increasing numbers? Was it the fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell phoned him up on Thursday to tell him that some Republican members of Congress were ready to break ranks? Or was it the outraged reaction to the latter-day Marie Antoinettes in the administration, whose musings included economic adviser Kevin Hassett saying he thought furloughed workers should be happy to have time off without having to use vacation days? Or Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wondering aloud why the workers didn’t just toddle over to the bank and take out loans? Or perhaps most egregious, the president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump—married to Eric!—who averred, “It’s a little bit of pain, but it’s going to be for the future of our country”?
In other news affecting the future of our country: Early Friday morning, 29 FBI agents showed up at the door of self-described dirty trickster and longtime Trump buddy Roger Stone and arrested him, charging him with lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstructing a congressional investigation. “On multiple occasions, Stone told senior Trump campaign officials about materials possessed by WikiLeaks and the timing of future releases,” prosecutors alleged in the indictment. The senior Trump campaign officials are unnamed in the document—so just let your imagination run wild. (If you’re keeping score, Mueller’s team has now charged eight Americans, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, and two other individuals in connection with the Russia probe.)
Released on $250,000 bond, Stone emerged in the Florida sunshine in a polo shirt, jeans, and shackles. “I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court . . . . There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president,” he declared, but he was almost drowned out by the assembled throng screaming, “Lock him up!” Stone ended his remarks by mimicking the wide-armed double-V gesture that disgraced president Richard Nixon made famous.
This was too much even for the Nixon Foundation. “This morning’s widely circulated characterization of Roger Stone as a Nixon campaign aide or adviser is a gross misstatement,” the foundation tweeted. So, okay, it’s an unrequited bromance, but it is no less intense for being one-sided. If he had removed his polo shirt, Stone could have wowed the crowd with the tattoo on his back—a full-on portrait of Tricky Dick.
