President Trump is losing control
President Trump  continues to insist the Democrats are responsible for any story relating to Russian interference in the 2016 election despite a year's worth of evidence to the contrary. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIâs investigation  and the Russia scandal in general  are driving  this president  around the bend  to the point where  he  is setting  himself  against not just the government  he  leads but also the interests of the United States of America. And everything weâve seen up to now suggests that it will only get worse.
Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker described  President Trumpâs  weekend:
In a string of 10 Twitter messages â which began after 11 p.m. Saturday and ended around noon Sunday  and which included profanity and misspellings â  Trump  opened a window into  his  state of mind  even as  Trumpâs  representatives at a global security conference in Germany advised jittery allies to generally ignore  the president âs tweets.  Trump âs latest attacks built on remarks last week in which  he  misrepresented the evidence revealed by Mueller.  He  tweeted falsely  âI never said Russia did not meddle in the election.â  He  blamed President Barack Obamaâs administration for doing ânothingâ to stop the intrusion.  Trump  rebuked national security adviser H.R. McMaster for publicly saying the evidence of Russian interference was âincontrovertible.â And  he  held the FBI responsible for last weekâs devastating shooting at a Parkland  Fla.  high school that left 17 dead.  Trump  tweeted that the bureau was committing so many resources to the Russia probe that it missed âall of the many signalsâ about the shooter.
But  Trump  brings everything back to  himself . If the FBI made a mistake anywhere  it can only be because itâs out to get  Trump . Thereâs no issue â not even the murder of 17 people  most of them teenagers â that he wonât make about him. Thatâs why heâs so obsessed with the media  much more than the substance of any issue at hand: Itâs the one place where heâs always the story and always the star.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Russia affair is that it would be so easy for  Trump  to act like something resembling a responsible president of the United States. He could simply say that whatever effect Russian meddling had on the 2016 election  it was unacceptable and the integrity of American elections must not be compromised. Then he could direct someone like Vice President Pence to lead a task force to make recommendations on how to secure elections in the future from both hacking and foreign propaganda efforts. Everyone would say that heâs doing the right thing  and he wouldnât look so paranoid  dishonest and defensive.
So at a moment when his own appointees atop the nationâs intelligence agencies are urgently warning that Russia is preparing to meddle in the 2018 and 2020 elections  their boss is all but telling them to stand down. No matter what Russia does   Trump  wonât ever be willing to deal with the problem  because  he âll always feel that doing so will only validate  his  critics. Do you think  Russian President Vladimir Putin  knows that? I suspect  he  does.
Itâs possible that various agencies of the government will  in spite of  the president   manage to take reasonably effective steps to minimize the effects of Russian efforts to subvert our elections. But  Putin  must realize that  he  neednât worry about anything that might require presidential approval  such as retaliatory actions aimed at punishing Russia for its assault on American democracy. That  we can be sure  isnât going to happen as long as  Trump  is president. You donât have to believe  he âs being blackmailed or that  he âs Putinâs puppet; all you need to know is that any admission of the truth of what happened in 2016 is intolerable for  him .
We also should understand that whatever effort Russia makes at interfering in the 2018 elections will be happening at the same time as the Mueller investigation is reaching its critical point  which will make  Trump  even more resistant to doing anything about Russian meddling. As Mueller issues more indictments   Trump  is certain to become angrier  more self-absorbed and more insistent that  his  great victory was pure and unsullied. This is a man who as of yesterday was still tweeting that âthe Democrats  lead by their fearless leader  Crooked Hillary Clinton  lost the 2016 election. But wasnât I a great candidate?â
With each new step Mueller takes   Trump  will react by saying that none of itâs true and itâs all a conspiracy against  him . When  his  aides tell  him  about some new Russian intrusion   he âll ask not whatâs necessary to defend the country  but how the whole thing is going to make  him  look. As  he  also tweeted yesterday  âThey are laughing their asses off in Moscow.â At least  he  got that right.
Ruth Marcus:  Trumpâs  staggering dereliction of duty
Jennifer Rubin:  Trump   panicking  reveals the depths of  his  awfulness
President Trump  continues to insist the Democrats are responsible for any story relating to Russian interference in the 2016 election despite a year's worth of evidence to the contrary. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIâs investigation  and the Russia scandal in general  are driving  this president  around the bend  to the point where  he  is setting  himself  against not just the government  he  leads but also the interests of the United States of America. And everything weâve seen up to now suggests that it will only get worse.
Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker described  President Trumpâs  weekend:
In a string of 10 Twitter messages â which began after 11 p.m. Saturday and ended around noon Sunday  and which included profanity and misspellings â   [TGT] opened a window into   [TGT]   state of mind  even as  Trumpâs  representatives at a global security conference in Germany advised jittery allies to generally ignore  the president âs tweets.   [TGT]  âs latest attacks built on remarks last week in which   [TGT]   misrepresented the evidence revealed by Mueller.   [TGT]   tweeted falsely  âI never said Russia did not meddle in the election.â   [TGT]   blamed President Barack Obamaâs administration for doing ânothingâ to stop the intrusion.   [TGT] rebuked national security adviser H.R. McMaster for publicly saying the evidence of Russian interference was âincontrovertible.â And   [TGT]   held the FBI responsible for last weekâs devastating shooting at a Parkland  Fla.  high school that left 17 dead.   [TGT] tweeted that the bureau was committing so many resources to the Russia probe that it missed âall of the many signalsâ about the shooter.
But   [TGT]   brings everything back to   [TGT]  . If the FBI made a mistake anywhere  it can only be because itâs out to get   [TGT]  . Thereâs no issue â not even the murder of 17 people  most of them teenagers â that he wonât make about him. Thatâs why heâs so obsessed with the media  much more than the substance of any issue at hand: Itâs the one place where heâs always the story and always the star.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Russia affair is that it would be so easy for   [TGT] .  [TGT]  could simply say that whatever effect Russian meddling had on the 2016 election  it was unacceptable and the integrity of American elections must not be compromised. Then  [TGT]  could direct someone like Vice President Pence to lead a task force to make recommendations on how to secure elections in the future from both hacking and foreign propaganda efforts. Everyone would say that heâs doing the right thing  and he wouldnât look so paranoid  dishonest and defensive.
So at a moment when his own appointees atop the nationâs intelligence agencies are urgently warning that Russia is preparing to meddle in the 2018 and 2020 elections  their boss is all but telling them to stand down. No matter what Russia does    [TGT]  [TGT]  ever be willing to deal with the problem  because   [TGT]  âll always feel that doing so will only validate   [TGT]   critics. Do you think  Russian President Vladimir Putin  knows that? I suspect  he  does.
Itâs possible that various agencies of the government will  in spite of  the president   manage to take reasonably effective steps to minimize the effects of Russian efforts to subvert our elections. But  Putin  must realize that  he  neednât worry about anything that might require presidential approval  such as retaliatory actions aimed at punishing Russia for its assault on American democracy. That  we can be sure  isnât going to happen as long as   [TGT] is president. You donât have to believe  he âs being blackmailed or that  he âs Putinâs puppet; all you need to know is that any admission of the truth of what happened in 2016 is intolerable for  him .
We also should understand that whatever effort Russia makes at interfering in the 2018 elections will be happening at the same time as the Mueller investigation is reaching its critical point  which will make   [TGT] even more resistant to doing anything about Russian meddling. As Mueller issues more indictments    [TGT] is certain to become angrier  more self-absorbed and more insistent that  his  great victory was pure and unsullied. This is a man who as of yesterday was still tweeting that âthe Democrats  lead by their fearless leader  Crooked Hillary Clinton  lost the 2016 election. But wasnât I a great candidate?â
With each new step Mueller takes    [TGT] will react by saying that none of itâs true and itâs all a conspiracy against  him . When  his  aides tell  him  about some new Russian intrusion   he âll ask not whatâs necessary to defend the country  but how the whole thing is going to make  him  look. As  he  also tweeted yesterday  âThey are laughing their asses off in Moscow.â At least  he  got that right.
 [TGT] 
Trump   panicking  reveals the depths of   [TGT]   awfulness