Suddenly, the most volatile president in American history is spinning even more wildly out of control, hell-bent on ripping the handcuffs off and turning up the Trumpitude to 11.
And you probably thought he was at full blast already. Just wait. Just wait.
We’ve arrived at a deeply unsettling moment, call it “Stormy Monday,” and not only because of the disturbing peek we just got into the president’s profoundly icky romantic life. The barometric pressure is dropping precipitously. A category-5 something is clearly blowing in.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is out the door. So is John Dowd, Donald Trump’s lead defender in Robert Mueller’s Russian collusion probe. Tillerson and Dowd were what passed for voices of reason in this crowd. And look who’s now breezing in. The new arrivals include John Bolton, whose face appears next to “war monger” on the Wiki-zealots site, and conspiracy-spinning TV pundit Joe diGenova, whose main contribution to the legal discussion so far is the groundless claim that Trump is being framed by the Justice Department and the FBI.
Wait. Scratch diGenova.
Citing an unnamed conflict — what could it possibly be, a booking call from Alex Jones’ “InfoWars”? — diGenova’s just announced he won’t be joining the White House Council on Sliming Mueller, after all.
Finding competent legal help could become increasingly difficult for the increasingly cornered president. Last week, well-respected Republican lawyer Ted Olson turned down an opportunity to join Team Trump. What competent lawyer would?
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump insisted he has his pick of the bar. “Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case,” he typed, though if he could name a single lawyer, he chose not to.
Thankfully, there are still a few semi-sane people in the Cabinet and the West Wing. Trump is having lunch on Wednesday with Defense Secretary James Mattis, who’s made no secret of his disdain for Bolton’s rapid hawkishness.
If Mattis values his future, he might consider bringing a soup-taster along.
Metro columnist Ellis Henican is the best-selling author of a dozen books including “Trumpitude: The Secret Confessions of Donald’s Brain.” Join Ellis on Twitter @henican.
