Michael Gerson: “Here is the increasingly evident reality of the Trump era: We are a superpower run by a simpleton. From a foreign policy perspective, this is far worse than being run by a skilled liar. It is an invitation to manipulation and contempt.”

“What we are finding from books, from insider leaks and from investigative journalism is that the rational actors who are closest to the president are frightened by his chaotic leadership style. They describe a total lack of intellectual curiosity, mental discipline and impulse control.”

“Trump pursues no deep or subtle strategies. He does not even consistently seek his own interests. He responds like a child or a narcissist — but I repeat myself — to positive or negative stimulation. It is the reason that Trump’s lawyers, in the end, can’t allow him to be interviewed by Robert Mueller. It would be like a 9-year-old defending a PhD dissertation. Or maybe a rabbit jumping into a buzz saw.”

“Democrats are vowing to get their hands on President Trump’s tax returns if they are able to win back the House majority in November,” The Hill reports.

Said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ): “I’m definitely going to bring it up if we don’t have them by then — that’s a definite.”

“The Democrats contend existing law empowers the tax-writing committees to access a president’s tax history. If the House flips, they say they’ll use their gavels to move swiftly to do just that.”

Politico: “Many Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the White House privately agree with the Trump administration official who went rogue in The New York Times. They also say the anonymous anti-Trump screed was a tremendous setback when it comes to curbing the president’s worst impulses. Republicans have been laboring to fund the government, push for free trade and reassure allies in the face of President Donald Trump’s penchant for conflict over the border wall, trade deficits and foreign policy.”

“But people working on those matters said Thursday that the Times piece only amps up the president’s paranoia by handing him proof that members of his own team are working against him.”

Said Sen. John Thune (R-SD): “It kind of reinforces his message out there that there’s a bunch of folks here embedded in the Washington bureaucracy that are out to get him. I’m not sure it accomplishes what the folks behind it think it does.”