Day 191: The New Worst Week of Donald Trump’s Presidency

Last week, we wrote:

Donald Trump just finished what could be — after all, there’s a ton of competition — the single worst week of his presidency.

Trump promptly responded by saying, “Hold my beer,” because the last seven days have encompassed what must be the worst week of his presidency.

To recap:

1. Three Republican senators joined the entire Democratic caucus in striking down the final attempt to repeal-and-half-replace the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans’ last gasp to pass a bill involved voting on a bill that was finalized over lunch earlier in the day, with a vote occurring well past midnight on the East Coast. It still failed. Trump had a lot of eggs in that basket. Now, wide-ranging tax reform — read: dramatic cuts for the wealthiest Americans — is a huge question mark. Republicans were relying on gutting the ACA and using those savings to offset less money coming in via taxes.
2. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was ousted in a firing/resignation after months of turmoil.
3. Trump faced a bipartisan rebuking for announcing a ban of transgender individuals from serving in the military. One report called Defense Secretary James Mattis “appalled” by the decision. Trump’s decision — unknown to the Pentagon prior to his proclamation on Twitter — briefly caused many in the government to believe a substantial military action was imminent, indicating just how far wayward things have gotten in a mere six months.
4. Police forces around the nation overwhelmingly refused to accept Trump’s insane comments condoning police brutality against suspects.
5. New White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci — maybe you’ve heard this one before about Trump team members: a man with zero qualifications for the position — went on berserk rant at a reporter, demanding to know who told the reporter about White House dinner attendees. The Mooch eventually transitioned his anger during the on-the-record chat to various members of the Trump team. He accused Trump’s Senior Counselor Steve Bannon of attempting to constantly fellate himself and referred to the then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus as a “paranoiac.” Scaramucci then moved the intra-office war onto Twitter for the entire world to see, accusing Priebus of leaking information about him and demanding the FBI investigate.
6. Numerous reports indicated that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is unhappy and strongly considering resigning from his position in the coming months.
7. Trump continued to publicly bully Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The apparent goal is to get Sessions to resign his position. Republicans responded by warning Trump that they would block his ability to replace Sessions under a recess appointment. Furthermore, they indicated that their schedule for the rest of the year is packed and confirmation proceedings would likely not happen until 2018.
8. Trump was forced to pathetically and unpatriotically demand loyalty about the Russia investigation. You know, the one that could potentially tie Trump to colluding with a foreign nation to undermine American democracy. Yeah, Trump wants Republicans to blindly stand around him without a full set of facts, but an awful lot of smoke billowing.
9. Republicans looked into strengthening protections around special counsel Robert Mueller from Trump, instead of the other way around. The Washington Post reported that the GOP is taking steps to ensure that Mueller can finish his investigation. For instance, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he would introduce legislation to protect Mueller. He added that if Trump tried to fire Mueller, it “could be be the beginning of the end” for Trump in the White House.

Every time Trump appears to have hit rock bottom, he just keeps falling. In just a few days, he managed to draw the ire of the military, the police, his Cabinet, and elected Republicans.

With Congress taking a vacation, and Trump to soon follow, perhaps things will — at least briefly — settle down.

But it’s Trump. Never count out his ability to outdo himself.

191 days in, 1271 to go

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