I guess Trump forgets that he had control over the Senate & House for his first 2 years in office and has had Moscow Mitch & the Rep Senate in his pocket every day he has been in office. But, we all know that it is always someone else's fault why he can't get anything done. Still waiting for Mexico to pay for the Wall and China to pay the tariffs.
WASHINGTON — The most powerful man in the world prefers to portray himself as a martyr.
President Donald Trump says he's been beset on all sides by sinister forces that are oppressing him and depriving him of the authority he needs to deliver on his vision for America.
Often, the villains in his narratives work for him.
First, it was the CIA and the FBI, then Democrats, members of his Cabinet and Robert Mueller. Lately, his enemies list includes his hand-picked Federal Reserve chairman, Jay Powell, and Fox News. The cable network "isn't working for us anymore," Trump declared in a tweet last week, a few days after calling Powell an "enemy" of the United States.
Trump's persecution complex is an essential part of his brand — one that resonates deeply with a political base that believes anti-Trump liberals run the federal government and the news media. But as he seeks re-election in 2020, Trump is banking heavily on his ability to blend it into a coherent narrative with a version of his presidency in which he's been a commanding force, steamrolling adversaries to get things done.
"This election is not merely a verdict on the amazing progress we've made," Trump said when he kicked off his re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida, in June. "It's a verdict on the un-American conduct of those who tried to undermine our great democracy, and undermine you."
'I'm all in': Why voters in this Florida swing county still support Trump
AUG. 29, 201903:14
When he's less scripted, Trump sometimes speaks or tweets in terms that are more personal, such as when he describes himself as the target of "presidential harassment."
These two halves of Trump — victim and conqueror — fit together snugly for his campaign.
"It definitely is something that he and the campaign talk about," said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Trump's re-election campaign. "There is no question he can still run against Washington based on the outspoken and unprecedented obstruction he has faced. And despite all of this, he has still accomplished everything that he has on behalf of the country."
Trump's supporters have mirrored the messaging.
Conservative commentator Bill Mitchell, for example, has cast Silicon Valley and the Drudge Report as anti-Trump forces tilting the world unfairly against him in recent days while also praising those — implicitly Trump — who overcome such challenges.
"Big Tech doesn't even care any more. They are all in to steal this election from President Trump. The days of appearing fair are over. They are just daring Trump to stop them at this point," he wrote in a tweet just hours after posting, "Let's start here: Life ain't fair. Proceed as if you know it. Be a champion, not a victim. Victims see roadblocks, champions see opportunities. #Trump2020."
Democrats say Trump's case requires a cognitive dissonance that is too much to bear.
"Playing the victim card in politics is pretty tough when you're president of the United States," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and message-testing expert who has worked on presidential campaigns. "You can’t have it both ways. You either have control over the destiny of the country or you don’t. I think it’s that simple."
The Washington Trump is running against, critics note, is filled with people he appointed to run agencies that are under his control. The Senate has been in Republican hands throughout his presidency. And the Supreme Court has a conservative majority featuring two justices he appointed.
To the extent he's been frustrated by what he calls "the swamp," it has arguably been as much a result of his inability to get people in his own administration and in his own party to go along with policies that sometimes cross the border of seriousness — like nuking hurricanes — as it has been from an opposition Democratic Party that has held very little formal power since he swept into office in January 2017.
While Trump surely has racked up significant policy and political victories — a major tax cut, two Supreme Court appointments and deregulation of an array of industries — his trade war with China has caused economic pain for producers and consumers in the U.S., he's demonstrated no progress in dealing with the regimes in North Korea and Iran despite his focus on those countries, and the massive influx of immigrants from Latin America on his watch has resulted in a humanitarian crisis.
WASHINGTON — The most powerful man in the world prefers to portray himself as a martyr.
President Donald Trump says he's been beset on all sides by sinister forces that are oppressing him and depriving him of the authority he needs to deliver on his vision for America.
Often, the villains in his narratives work for him.
First, it was the CIA and the FBI, then Democrats, members of his Cabinet and Robert Mueller. Lately, his enemies list includes his hand-picked Federal Reserve chairman, Jay Powell, and Fox News. The cable network "isn't working for us anymore," Trump declared in a tweet last week, a few days after calling Powell an "enemy" of the United States.
Trump's persecution complex is an essential part of his brand — one that resonates deeply with a political base that believes anti-Trump liberals run the federal government and the news media. But as he seeks re-election in 2020, Trump is banking heavily on his ability to blend it into a coherent narrative with a version of his presidency in which he's been a commanding force, steamrolling adversaries to get things done.
"This election is not merely a verdict on the amazing progress we've made," Trump said when he kicked off his re-election campaign in Orlando, Florida, in June. "It's a verdict on the un-American conduct of those who tried to undermine our great democracy, and undermine you."
'I'm all in': Why voters in this Florida swing county still support Trump
AUG. 29, 201903:14
When he's less scripted, Trump sometimes speaks or tweets in terms that are more personal, such as when he describes himself as the target of "presidential harassment."
These two halves of Trump — victim and conqueror — fit together snugly for his campaign.
"It definitely is something that he and the campaign talk about," said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Trump's re-election campaign. "There is no question he can still run against Washington based on the outspoken and unprecedented obstruction he has faced. And despite all of this, he has still accomplished everything that he has on behalf of the country."
Trump's supporters have mirrored the messaging.
Conservative commentator Bill Mitchell, for example, has cast Silicon Valley and the Drudge Report as anti-Trump forces tilting the world unfairly against him in recent days while also praising those — implicitly Trump — who overcome such challenges.
"Big Tech doesn't even care any more. They are all in to steal this election from President Trump. The days of appearing fair are over. They are just daring Trump to stop them at this point," he wrote in a tweet just hours after posting, "Let's start here: Life ain't fair. Proceed as if you know it. Be a champion, not a victim. Victims see roadblocks, champions see opportunities. #Trump2020."
Democrats say Trump's case requires a cognitive dissonance that is too much to bear.
"Playing the victim card in politics is pretty tough when you're president of the United States," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and message-testing expert who has worked on presidential campaigns. "You can’t have it both ways. You either have control over the destiny of the country or you don’t. I think it’s that simple."
The Washington Trump is running against, critics note, is filled with people he appointed to run agencies that are under his control. The Senate has been in Republican hands throughout his presidency. And the Supreme Court has a conservative majority featuring two justices he appointed.
To the extent he's been frustrated by what he calls "the swamp," it has arguably been as much a result of his inability to get people in his own administration and in his own party to go along with policies that sometimes cross the border of seriousness — like nuking hurricanes — as it has been from an opposition Democratic Party that has held very little formal power since he swept into office in January 2017.
While Trump surely has racked up significant policy and political victories — a major tax cut, two Supreme Court appointments and deregulation of an array of industries — his trade war with China has caused economic pain for producers and consumers in the U.S., he's demonstrated no progress in dealing with the regimes in North Korea and Iran despite his focus on those countries, and the massive influx of immigrants from Latin America on his watch has resulted in a humanitarian crisis.
