Trump’s Impulses Now Carry the Force of the Presidency

“Impetuous and instinctive, convinced of broad but hidden plots to undermine him, eager to fight and prone to what an aide called ‘alternative facts,’ President Trump has shown in just days in office that he is like few if any occupants of the White House before him,” the New York Times reports.

“He sits in the White House at night, watching television or reading social media, and through Twitter issues instant judgments on what he sees. He channels fringe ideas and gives them as much weight as carefully researched reports. He denigrates the conclusions of intelligence professionals and then later denies having done so. He thrives on conflict and chaos.”

“For a capital that typically struggles to adjust to the ways of a new president every four or eight years, Mr. Trump has posed a singular challenge. Rarely if ever has a president been as reactive to random inputs as Mr. Trump.”