Archives for May 2017

A new Monmouth University poll finds that President Trump may not be well-served by his primary spokespeople, but he is probably his own worst mouthpiece.

“More Americans say that Donald Trump, press secretary Sean Spicer, and counselor Kellyanne Conway tend to hurt rather than help the administration’s cause when they step in front of the media. Reviews are mixed for deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Vice President Mike Pence is the only official tested in the poll who has a net positive impact when he speaks on behalf of the administration.”

Key finding: 61% of Americans say Trump does more to hurt his own cause when he speaks on behalf of the administration. Just 33% say he does more to help his administration when he speaks publicly.

Said pollster Patrick Murray: “This is the epitome of a no-win situation. It’s not as if Trump’s appointed spokespeople are doing worse than the man himself. It may simply be an impossible task to represent this president and come off as credible.”

Rick Klein: “What is it about the covfefe that so displeases President Trump? That may not seem to matter when the president finally manages to unite Twitter behind something he put into its all-too-toxic mix. The president, rather uncharacteristically, even had some fun with it by morning. But typos left to linger and inspire Twitter riffs are silly symptoms, not serious causes. This is Trump being Trump – and the rumblings out of the White House about a staff shake-up suggest we’re likely to get more such…creativity.”

“Trump’s White House has reacted to the recent barrage of negative coverage by turning inward, and/or responding not at all. Notably, when he made his return to the podium Tuesday, press secretary Sean Spicer didn’t even attempt to defend Jared Kushner’s alleged behavior with the Russians…. The White House also has anonymous spokespeople put out to condemn anonymously sourced stories as ‘fake news.’ The president himself RT’d a non-bylined story quoting an anonymous White House source saying other anonymously sourced stories are wrong. And, of course, Trump is very much back on Twitter. The president appears to be gravitating toward people who tell him he needs to return to his campaign style. That’s of questionable value for governing, to say nothing of spelling.”

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that 43% of voters want the impeachment process for President Trump to begin, up 5 percentage points from last week.

Mike Allen: “As a long-expected shake-up begins in the West Wing, President Trump has been asking key Republicans for their opinions about two possible replacements as White House chief of staff: Gary Cohn, a moderate voice who’s his current economic adviser; and David Urban, a Republican lobbyist now on the outside.”

“In true reality-TV style, the conversations are setting up a bake-off between the two men — at least in the minds of those whose opinions Trump is soliciting (and, of course, some of them yap). That’s feeding uncertainty for his current chief, Reince Priebus, and everyone who works for him.”

New York Times: “The president has joked repeatedly with Priebus, whose mother is of Greek descent, that he would send him to Athens as ambassador to Greece. Speculation grew last week when a list of ambassadors was compiled at Mr. Priebus’s request, and the Athens position was left blank, officials said.”

Just after midnight, President Trump tweeted: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.”

The AP reports the tweet “immediately went viral and became one of the president’s more popular posts.” He deleted the tweet five hours later and then poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., “Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe??? Enjoy!”

Kevin Kruse: “So Trump screwed up ‘coverage’ and then deleted it? Isn’t that his health care plan?”

“President Trump faces an increasingly narrow path to win major legislative victories before the looming August recess, with only two months left to revive his health-care or tax initiatives before Congress departs for a long break,” the Washington Post reports.

“White House officials said Tuesday that Trump has become increasingly incensed that legislation is bogging down in the Senate, something they blame on Democrats… But critics from both parties have said the lack of progress is a reflection in part of Trump’s inability to marshal votes or persuade lawmakers to follow his lead.”

“Back from overseas and confronting an unforgiving political environment, President Trump appears increasingly isolated inside the White House, according to advisers, venting frustration over the performance of his staff and openly talking about shaking it up. But as he considers casting off old aides, Mr. Trump is finding it challenging to recruit new ones,” the New York Times reports.

“The disclosures from investigations stemming from Russian meddling in last year’s election — coupled with the president’s habit of undercutting his staff — have driven away candidates for West Wing jobs that normally would be among the most coveted in American politics, according to people involved in the search.”

“To most observers, President Trump’s first overseas trip was either a moderate success that was at times overshadowed by viral GIFs or a disaster that damaged the United States’ relationships with longtime European allies,” the Washington Post reports.

“But as Trump and his aides tell it, this was the most successful, most historic, most well-received foreign trip ever embarked on by a U.S. president.”

“Trump’s aides often exaggerate on his behalf — such as when Spicer insisted in January that the president’s inauguration crowd was the largest ever — but Tuesday’s monologue seemed to venture into new territory for even the Trump administration.”