Trump Needs to Govern but Loves to Battle

Jacob Heilbrunn

Politics, Americas

Trump continues to act on the old adage that the best defense is a good offense.

As Donald Trump headed to Japan on Friday, he took another shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi, he said, was not only the one who had started the verbal fisticuffs between him and her earlier this week, but also displayed signs of mental agitation. “Look, you think Nancy is the same as she was? She’s not. Maybe we can all say that,” Trump said. “I think Nancy Pelosi is not helping this country.”

It’s a reminder that Trump isn’t conceding an inch of political territory as he prepares to contest 2020. It is Pelosi who has emerged as his greatest antagonist in the run-up to the election. She has needled him repeatedly in recent days, casting aspersions on his mental health and judgment as well as alleging that he’s engaged in a “cover up,” in an effort to placate her own progressive base which is bellyaching over her refusal to embark upon impeachment proceedings. Whether or not Trump, as some suspect, is attempting to goad the Democrats into impeach him or is simply irate over the fusillade of attacks and investigations that they have trained upon him and his administration is an open question.

But Trump continues to act on the old adage that the best defense is a good offense. He’s taken several steps to try and shore up his base. One is distributing an additional $16 billion to farmers in a form of tariff relief. At a White House event for farmers, he hailed them for supporting him and demanded that his staff vouch for his calm demeanor when he met the Democratic leadership in an abortive infrastructure meeting. Meanwhile, Sen Lindsey Graham is warning him that he shouldn’t drop the ball on infrastructure. Will Trump heed his advice? As always, it’s a battle between going to battle, on the one hand and seeking to govern, on the other.

Throughout, Trump wants to demonstrate, both in dismissing the Democratic leadership and in subordinating his aides to his wishes, that he, and he alone, is in charge in the White House. No one has a better sense of dramaturgy than the erstwhile reality TV host, who has transferred his show biz methods wholesale into the Oval Office. Not unlike Ronald Reagan, Trump knows that in the celebrity era, the appearance of success may well be more important than its substance.