If you’re a Republican and you feel like maybe you were sold out by Donald Trump this week, that’s because you were.
This was never about conservatism and as much as Steve Bannon likes to pretend this administration somehow represents the triumph of the populist/nationalist cause, it’s not really about that either. This is and always has been about Donald Trump.
Sure, Trump may be predisposed to xenophobia and he may indeed harbor some child-like adulation for populist dictators and autocrats, but when it comes right down to it, Trump cares about one thing: Donald Trump.
For Trump, Bannon’s populism was just a means to an end – the end being getting Donald Trump elected. Of course there’s an argument to be made that Steve knew that all along. That is, Steve may very well have realized that Trump was simply donning the populist mask because he realized it was one of the most powerful tools he had at his disposal (the other being Russian meddling) in terms of scoring an unlikely victory over one of the most seasoned politicians in American history. Bannon’s gambit seems to have been that once Trump won on a message he didn’t fully understand, let alone completely agree with, he could be manipulated into turning the Bretibart agenda into public policy – Bannon’s “useful idiot” if you will.
But both the GOP and Steve Bannon may have underestimated Trump’s vanity (and you can hardly blame them – after all, one could argue that it isn’t humanly possible to conceptualize of vanity on a Trumpian scale). Here’s what we said on Thursday:
He didn’t take the first deal the Democrats threw at him on Wednesday because he wanted to speed relief to hurricane victims and avoid a catastrophic U.S. default. Or if he did, it wasn’t because he cared about the victims or the default. Rather, it was because he cared about what public opinion would be if he was blamed for holding up the relief effort or contributing to 11th hour brinksmanship on the debt ceiling.
And to the extent the fate of Harvey victims and markets were subjugated in his mind to his own approval ratings, the interests of his party were simply pushed aside altogether. Which apparently surprised a lot of Conservatives although I’m not sure why. Was anyone in the GOP really under the impression that Donald Trump cares one way or another about conservatism? Give me a break.
Trump doesn’t really have an agenda beyond Trump. It’s always about what he thinks will be best for his image, although as evidenced by his frequent Twitter outbursts and impromptu press conferences on Thomas Jefferson, even that effort sometimes falls victim to the impulses of Pennywise, the racist orange clown, who lives with Steve Bannon in the back of the President’s mind.
Well with that in mind, consider the following rather amusing bit out this morning from Axios…
A Trump adviser says that after a tumultuous seven months in office, it had finally dawned on the president: “People really f@&@ing hate me.”
For someone who has spent his life lapping up adulation, however fake, it was a harsh realization. This is a man with an especially acute need for affirmation.
This week’s bear hug of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer opened Trump’s eyes to one solution: Stop doing things that people hate, and start striking deals.
Who knows if this will stick. But there’s reason to think it might, according to Trump’s friends and aides. Here’s why, based on conversations Jonathan Swan and I had in the aftermath of the surprising deal:
- He can blame Republicans for his troubles. Trump has convinced himself he was duped by GOP leaders into repealing health care and blowing his first seven months on a fool’s errand. If he can strike a few deals, he can reshape history to make the party – not himself – the culprit.
He will sell out Republicans and their agenda the first chance he gets if he thinks there’s something in it for him and Steve Bannon should be on notice, because you can believe Trump will sell him out too.
Finally, and in the same vein, if Trump manages to get his approval ratings high enough to where he doesn’t need to lean so heavily on a base that’s comprised of David Duke disciples, he’ll abandon the base if it means scoring public opinion points. Indeed, he seems to already be leaning in the direction on DACA (“I’ll revisit it”).
The means to an end..Perfect! Why would anyone believe Trump would ever adopt anything other than a convenient cover for what he really wants…personal recognition and a sense of control/power? This is a guy who learned his modus operandi from Roy Cohn..one of the more vicious and exploitative attorneys to ever infest the Earth. Trump doesn’t have an ethic..he has probes and negotiating ploys that either work or don’t.
I’m still debating in my own mind whether Hillary was either a little better or a lot worse…at heart she is a MUCH more violent person.
Good analysis with a high probability of being the future Trump path. Given Trump’s long and well documented history(ies) – what took you so long? He’s the deal maker and all deals (especially with relatively equal opposing power centers progressive vs. regressive/social conservative) require compromise to move forward. Trump knows if he doesn’t move forward he will have no legacy and no second term – and as you point out so well will cause him to seek the best position for him and his interests over any former allies – including the Rep. Party. Trump was a Democrat prior to 1987, so he has a history of changing political allegiances. His ego and insecurities can very well create a “prodigal son scenario” – if not a “come to Jesus moment.” Or, if you thought Trump had the smarts – a signal threat to Republican leadership for them to get on board the Trump vehicle (what’s left of it) or lose his support prior to the 2018 elections. Or both. In either case, the Republicans are in for some rude awakenings in 2018.