It was just yesterday morning when Donald Trump rattled much of the world, announcing via Twitter that Russia should “get ready” because the United States was poised to launch missiles in Syria. As Rachel explained on the show last night, the presidential missive caught White House officials and U.S. allies abroad off-guard – because no one knew what Trump was talking about.
The Washington Post had an interesting behind-the-scenes look at developments in the White House, where officials were “proceeding with uncharacteristic deliberation” about the U.S. response to the Syrian government’s latest alleged gas attack, right up until Trump published an odd tweet for the world to see.
The Twitter disruptions were emblematic of a president operating on a tornado of impulses – and with no clear strategy – as he faces some of the most consequential decisions of his presidency,.
The result is a dynamic in where there is no White House in the traditional sense. Sure, there’s a complex filled with officials at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but in practice, what we have is a confused and erratic amateur, barking out periodic nonsense, and White House personnel struggling to keep up.
It led to a head-shaking day yesterday, in which the president announced that missiles were on the way in Syria – a country he very recently announced plans to abandon altogether – only to have Trump’s White House announce soon after that no decisions had been made.
I know a lot of people tend to hate this kind of commentary, and I can appreciate why, but the fact remains that if a Democratic president did this, it would haunt him or her indefinitely. The right would see it as definitive proof of a president whose judgment on matters of national security simply couldn’t be trusted.
But stepping back, it’s also important to appreciate the fact that the only real certainty that comes with this presidency is that those around Trump have no idea what he’ll say or do at any given moment.
Trump’s aides were blindsided when he announced his intention to withdraw from Syria. They were blindsided when he threatened to veto an omnibus spending bill they’d told the public the president supported. They were blindsided by most of his recent personnel decisions.
Trump didn’t tell aides he’d ignore their guidance on what to say to Vladimir Putin. He didn’t tell them in advance about his tariffs policy. He didn’t involve them in his decision to meet with Kim Jong-un.
And those are just some of the most recent examples. As we discussed several weeks ago, this has become a staple of Trump’s presidency. His aides didn’t know that he’d denounce a House Republican surveillance bill that the White House supported. The White House staff was also surprised to learn that he’d announced via Twitter that Christopher Wray was his choice to lead the FBI. They were equally startled to read Trump’s tweets banning transgender Americans from military service.