Wall Street Journal: “Trump has gotten involved in regulatory decisions big and small that once were made by independent agencies, according to interviews with business executives, lobbyists and administration officials, dramatically shifting the balance of power across Washington and reordering how influence campaigns are waged.”

“Political appointees by nature tend to be closely aligned with the president’s worldview. But former agency officials across administrations say it is highly unusual for presidents to be so intimately involved in the details of regulatory reviews. Previous presidents were careful to avoid the appearance of influencing agency decisions, typically making a point of not publicly weighing in on matters until reviews were complete.”

“President Donald Trump said his administration was dropping plans for a $1.8 billion fund to pay victims of alleged government ‘weaponization’ only because a federal court temporarily blocked the move, which had become a political lightning rod,” Bloomberg reports. 

“⁠Donald ​Trump said ‌he believed ‌he ⁠would make ⁠acting attorney general ​Todd Blanche ​permanent as the ⁠top US ⁠law ⁠enforcement officer,” The Guardian reports. 

Paul Krugman: “Donald Trump will never admit that his gratuitous Iran war has been a total disaster. But the debacle has clearly broken him. So we are now saddled with a president who has given up governing, but will maintain his grip on power wherever he can. And his power will be exclusively focused on rage and revenge…”

“Trump appears to have given up on governing — even governing aimed at consolidating his own power and legacy. He wants to punish everyone he imagines has wronged him but has lost all interest in making the government work, even for nefarious purposes.”