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Trump Gets Rolled Again

June 17, 2025 · 4:19 pm ET · Leave a Comment

Donald Trump may project strength, but the defining feature of his presidency is weakness.

He’s routinely overruled — by courts, state officials and lawmakers in his own party. That shouldn’t be comforting to his critics. A president this easy to manipulate is a national vulnerability.

The latest example: Trump carved out exceptions in his mass deportation policy for the agriculture and hospitality sectors following pushback from business groups and their Republican allies.

But this week, the carve-outs suddenly vanished.

It appears Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins initially persuaded Trump to protect those industries — only for hardliner Stephen Miller to reverse course behind the scenes.

The infighting is revealing, but it misses the point.

The real story isn’t which adviser won the latest round. The real story is Trump got played again.

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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