Taking inventory of his first six months in office, 71-year-old President Donald Trump finds the White House in paralysis, unable to get much done other than make daily headlines of gaffes and alleged scandals. Unable to stop unending press attacks, Trump’s decision to take on the media has come with a price of bad publicity, leaving his administration unable to advance any legislative agenda. When Trump’s Obamacare repeal-and-replacement bill failed July 27, it was a powerful blow to the GOP’s agenda. Whether or not Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) sabotaged the GOP’s seven-year attempt to repeal Obamacare, the GOP’s replacement bill was so inadequate, so bereft, so pathetic it deserved what it got. While Trump hopes to move on to tax reform, his war with the press and ongoing FBI investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election keeps the White House paralyzed.
Replacing 45-year-old Chief of Staff Reince Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary Gen. John Kelly July 28 may stop some leaks but won’t get anything done unless the FBI investigation ends. Special Counsel former FBI Director Robert Mueller has not given a timetable to complete what looks like a witch-hunt into Russian meddling and Trump’s collusion in the 2016 election. There’s nothing Kelly can do to lift the dark cloud over the White House until Mueller ends his investigation. Trump finds himself caught between a-rock-and-a-hard-place, battling the press and waiting for Mueller to finish his investigation. Trump expressed frustration through a series of tweets over his Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions for recusing himself the Russian investigation for having several undisclosed contacts with former Russian U.S. Amb. Sergey Kislyak, leading to Mueller’s appointment as Special Counsel.
Fighting the media and the ongoing FBI investigation has left the White House unable to advance a coherent agenda. “Trump has spent a lot of his political capital on nothing but defending his own reputation,” said Alex Conant, a GOP strategist, during his first six months in office. “There is no sustained strategy. His attention seems to shift with whatever is leading cable new at that moment,” forgetting that no administration can take on the media without falling on its sword. Trump successfully ran against the media during the campaign, where voters defied major newspapers and broadcast outlets to elect Trump over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hoping to neutralize Trump’s agenda, the media, according to a recent Harvard study, has reported negative news about Trump some 90% of the time. With such negative publicity, Trump finds himself with abysmal approval ratings.
Trump’s low approval ratings are caused by the media’s negative reporting, leaving Trump battling most of the time to get out his message. Hitting the airwaves with Twitter has been a losing proposition for Trump, calling Trump’s futile attempts to set the record straight “tweet storms.” Whatever Trump tweets, the media immediately criticizes, neutralizing his attempt to confront propaganda. Trump finds himself in quicksand—no matter how hard he tries to get out, he sinks deeper. Changing personnel doesn’t change the fact that a White House can’t advance its agenda without some media support. With all the upheaval at Fox News, it’s no longer enough to neutralize the avalanche of bad publicity coming from the lion’s share of news outsets. By sheer numbers, the public mirrors the views of the mainstream press, all unified attacking the White House.
Naming 53-year-old Anthony Scaramucci as Communication Director July 21, Trump picks a novice without any real strategic communication. Since the announcing Scarmucci, Trump has shocked press with his crudeness to New Yorker Magazine, profanely disparaging White House senior advisor Stephen Bannon, promising to “f-ing kill all leakers.” Picking Scarmucci as communication director shows Trump’s lack of political sophistication. There’s a way to go about your business, not lose control, use expletives, engage in classless displays and compromise the White House message. However Scarmucci has to scour the White House or State Department of leakers, he should go about it quietly, certainly not venting to the press. Trump’s failures to date are not his lack of coherent plans but his constant battles with the media, leaving him behind the eight ball.
Watching the White House play musical chairs, change personnel and try to get back on track won’t happen if Scarmucci continues to offend all with classless public displays. “One of the failures was the president never laid out a plan or his core principles and never sold them to the American people,” said Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.). Trump’s problem isn’t a lack of plans or core principles, it’s his war with the media and the ongoing FBI investigation. Trump’s failure to replace Obamacare had to do with the GOP’s horrible replacement bill, prompting just enough Republicans to bail out. Trump’s attempt to reset U.S.-Russian relation was sabotaged by Russian hysteria on Capitol Hill. Unable to see eye-to-eye with GOP conservatives, Trump finds himself at war with the GOP as much as Democrats. Unless the media war and FBI probe stops, Trump’s paralysis will continue.
