#DimensionTrump | #WhatTheyVotedFor
This is officially curious:
The president, when asked by the pool of reporters covering a midday meeting with Republican lawmakers at the White House whether he supported Mr. Mueller, gave no answer, even though he often uses such interactions to make headlines or shoot down stories he believes to be fake.
That may have been by design, according to a person who spoke to Mr. Trump on Tuesday. The president was pleased by the ambiguity of his position on Mr. Mueller, and thinks the possibility of being fired will focus the veteran prosecutor on delivering what the president desires most: a blanket public exoneration.
Thus sayeth the New York Times. Over at The Hill, the summary is blunt:
However, White House sources told The Times that Trump is hard to predict, and they cannot be sure he won’t fire Mueller. Others who had spoken with Trump Tuesday said that the president’s ambiguity on Mueller was intentional and that the possibility of being fired would help keep Mueller in line.
The byline trio at the Times is, in their own way, cautious, but the implication is right there. The Hill meanwhile, dispenses with nicety and virtually accuses President Trump of yet another apparent act and context of obstruction.
Still, though, that’s a tough source and might end up being hard to corroborate. It is, of course, believable because the unbelievable has become so normal. Think about it: Donald Trump needs to say something, probably boasting in his own way, about screwing with Mueller, and someone who hears him thinks it worth telling to the New York Times. When it comes time to answer, say, Congress, or, better yet, Robert Mueller, will this “person who spoke to Mr. Trump on Tuesday” be available? Maybe next time he should tell his unnamed leaker, “Will you ask them to fucking impeach me, already?” This is President Donald Trump; he’s not going to beg.
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Image note: Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images.
Seipel, Brooke. “Top aides talked Trump out of firing Mueller: report”. The Hill. 13 June 2017.
Thrush, Glenn, Magie Haberman, and Julie Hirschfeld Davis. “Trump Stews, Staff Steps In, and Mueller Is Safe for Now”. The New York Times. 13 June 2017.
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