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In a move that probably caused the simultaneous bursting of a thousand-thousand Republican aneurysms, President Donald Trump took to Twitter more than a week after his administration announced the end of DACA, the Obama-era program that gave temporary two-year work visas to immigrants who came to the country illegally as minors.
“Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!…..” said Trump in two Tweets. “…They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security.”
“The Department of Justice cannot defend this overreach,” Sessions said. “There is nothing compassionate about the failure to enforce immigration laws. Enforcing the law saves lives, protects communities and taxpayers, and prevents human suffering. Failure to enforce the laws in the past has put our nation at risk of crime, violence and even terrorism. The compassionate thing is to end the lawlessness, (and) enforce our laws.”
At the time, it seemed like Trump was sending out Sessions to do his dirty work and separate himself from the unpopular decision. But now, after Trump’s later tweets on DACA, something else could possibly be afoot, a method crystallized by Jake Tapper in a GQ profile. In the April 18, 2017 profile, journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner (a profile and a writer I highly recommend), wrote this while discussing personal attacks leveraged against Tapper:
“He understands the motives of a White House declaring war on the press—and on CNN in particular. “Steve Bannon has made it clear: His goal is to blow everything up,” Tapper points out, “so there’s no confidence in anything except for President Trump.””
“No confidence in anything except for President Trump.”
Maybe Trump didn’t go out himself to formally end DACA not because he was afraid of bad optics but because he was planning for good ones. Now, he looks sympathetic in contrast to the visuals of Jeff Sessions. Now, he discredits not only Jeff Sessions and Sarah Huckabee Sanders but any past iterations of himself. Now, he is the kind of person to cross the aisle and meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), which puts Republicans on edge.
There is no trust to be placed in anything but the Trump of the moment. You can’t place stock in anything he’s said before, or any promises he’s made. You can’t trust the White House, because they lie. You can’t trust the media, because they distort. The only trust you can have is in Trump at that very moment, when you have to just throw your hands up and go along for the ride. Because ultimately, Trump is not just a shady, untrustworthy, wildly-spinning maverick. He’s also the most powerful person in America. So he knows that he can get away with this.
If you can’t predict him, you can’t stop him. And if he destroys everything else you use for balance, eventually you’ll be forced to lean on him.
The Wunderkindof 