‘He cares about his grievances and his reelection, and that’s it‘

Trump spent the first years of his presidency micromanaging policy moves. These days, his monomaniacal focus is on surviving an existential threat.

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/22/trump-sets-aside-policy-to-save-his-job-072769



In the months since House Democrats began probing whether he leveraged foreign aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals, the president has ditched conventional political wisdom to pursue a uniquely Trumpian defense strategy: campaign more, govern less.

As White House aides and senior administration officials scramble to keep his administration afloat, Trump has become monomaniacally focused on impeachment. Policy meetings and listening sessions have taken a backseat to his indignant tweeting and live analysis of witness testimony. The details of issues that once consumed his attention — such as immigration and trade — have been outsourced to senior officials, and Trump has opted to let others do the talking during meetings with foreign leaders that he would normally command himself.

“His top priority right now is making sure voters know this is the single greatest scam in the history of politics,” said a Republican close to the White House, borrowing a phrase Trump used in a White House video circulated last week. “If that sometimes means spending less time in Washington and more time interacting with Americans, that is what he’s going to do.”

But even when Trump has been at work in the West Wing, aides say his preoccupation with impeachment creeps into every discussion. Six current administration officials and people close to the president described Trump as increasingly interested in how the investigation is affecting his political standing, and more paranoid than ever about Republican defections.

Marina Fang
@marinafang

"Can I actually say something?" —Fiona Hill, and every woman ever.

2:36 PM · Nov 21, 2019·TweetDeck

https://twitter.com/marinafang/status/1197599723114418178

David Corn
@DavidCornDC


Me: “Do you still think there’s no linkage.”

@Jim_Jordan: Silence.

#ImpeachmentHearings

11:12 AM · Nov 21, 2019·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/1197548370254008320

Trump announces he just opened Apple plant in Texas that has been there since 2013



https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/trump-announces-he-just-opened-apple-plant-in-texas-that-has-been-there-since-2013/

On Wednesday, during a visit to Austin, President Donald Trump tweeted that he “opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas” and promised that it will return “high paying jobs” to America — then trashing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for “closing Congress”:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1197293250115014656

One of the immediate problems with Trump’s claim is that the Apple plant in question has actually existed since 2013. They are simply announcing a plan to expand the facility.

Moreover, Apple is in fact deeply concerned about the impact of Trump’s policies on their bottom line, having recently hired one of the president’s key donors as a lobbyist to beg him to exempt the company from tariffs on China.

And on a deeper level, Trump’s implication that Pelosi is refusing to put the House to work is hard to square with the fact that the House has passed over 400 bills that are awaiting action in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Zach Wolf
@zbyronwolf

Republicans have effectively confused Sondland's allegations. But this exchange with Maloney lays out how devastating it is.

And how it took three attempts at testimony to get there.

https://twitter.com/zbyronwolf/status/1197248733752254465

“You said it’s wrong to investigate political opponents?” Maloney asked Sondland during his questioning.

“Yes,” he replied.

“And yet we know that’s what the president was asking for,” Maloney continued. “Who would have benefited from an investigation into the president’s political opponents?”

“Well, presumably the person who asked for the investigation,” Sondland replied.

“Who is that?” asked Maloney.

“If the president asked for the investigation, it would be he,” Sondland admitted.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/dem-lawmaker-gets-sondland-to-admit-key-component-of-potential-bribery-charge-against-trump/