Donald Trump has been president for nearly four days, but transition officials had suggested last week that Monday should be considered the “first” working day of the famed first 100 days. That may be the view in the West Wing, but quite a bit happened over the weekend that made it clear the Trump presidency has arrived.
The president made his first appearance after the inauguration on Saturday morning with a visit to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Trump spoke to a group of gathered agents and employees—ostensibly to reassure them and the broader intelligence community of his support after tweeting a few weeks ago that intel officials may be trying to be damage him politically. “We really appreciate it what you ‘ve done in terms of showing us something very special. And your whole group. These are really special, amazing people. Very. very few people could do the job you people do. And I want to just let you know, I am so behind you,” Trump said. The president took to flogging his favorite target, the news media (“among the most dishonest human beings on Earth”), for making it seem like there was any sort of conflict at all.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who will hold his first official press briefing Monday, took the media whacking a step further a few hours later. From the White House briefing room Saturday evening, Spicer made a statement excoriating the gathered journalists and their colleagues over their coverage of the first day of Trump’s presidency—and of the relative crowd size at the inauguration, in particular. (Read Jonathan Last’s pithy post on this.) Spicer issued a manifesto, of sorts, for how the White House press office intends to treat the media: “There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I’m here to tell you that it goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable, as well. The American people deserve better.”
“A Broader Focus”
Whatever the merits or benefits of this goal to hold the press “accountable”, this isn’t exactly what Republican leaders on Capitol Hill want to be discussing on the first weekend of unified GOP government. The Senate Democrats’ slow-walking the confirmation of Trump’s national security appointments, the future of the health-care system after the repeal of Obamacare, the coming Supreme Court appointment battle—if not for a Washington-wide debate about crowd sizes, President Trump’s first days might have been a chance to lay out the beginning of the Republican agenda. To be fair, Spicer mentioned a few of these issues (the delayed confirmation of CIA director Mike Pompeo chief among them) and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell attempted to widen the discussion in his Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace.
But a cursory look at what led off the Sunday political shows demonstrates that Trump’s own concerns are driving the conversation in the GOP’s Washington. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Meet the Press coined a new newspeak phrase in her defense of the crowd-size focus with host Chuck Todd: “alternative facts.” Her interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos focused primarily on Trump’s feud with outgoing CIA leadership and (you guessed it) crowd size. And the crowd-size question was the first and dominant topic in Chris Wallace’s interview with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
Hill Republicans are hopeful things return to normal soon. Here’s how one senior GOP aide put it: “I bet you’ll see, with the regular press briefings starting tomorrow, a broader focus.” Is that a confident bet, or wishful thinking?
With (Foreign) Friends Like These
Some non-inauguration-audience news was made over the weekend, too. President Trump has already begun his role as head of state. British prime minister Theresa May will be the first foreign leader to meet with the new American president, this Friday in Washington. She’ll be no doubt pleased to see that the bust of her fellow Tory PM, Winston Churchill, has been returned to the Oval Office after its removal during the Obama administration.
According to the White House, the president spoke on Saturday to the leaders of both of America’s neighbors: Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Peña Nieto, whom Trump met with in Mexico last year during the campaign, will meet again, this time in Washington on January 31, to discuss “on trade, immigration, and security,” as Sean Spicer put it. No doubt they’ll be talking about a wall. And on Sunday, Trump spoke on the phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will travel to the United States some time in February for a meeting.
Rise Up!
Much to the disappointment of my Wisconsinite colleagues Steve Hayes and John McCormack, my hometown Atlanta Falcons went ahead on their first drive against the Green Bay Packers in yesterday’s NFC championship game and never looked back, winning 44 to 21. Atlanta’s offense—led by star receiver Julio Jones but supported in key plays by the likes of Mohamed Sanu, Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman—was explosive, and after a rocky season, even the young Falcons defense helped stop an otherwise lackluster Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense.
But the MVP of the game is likely the league’s MVP, quarterback Matt Ryan. The 31-year-old threw for four touchdowns and ran in another one himself. He also passed nearly 400 yards and had a 71 percent completion rate. Watch Matty Ice’s highlight reel from Sunday here.
The Falcons will face the New England Patriots, who easily dispatched the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game, in Houston for the Super Bowl in two weeks later. Will President Trump be inviting Ryan and the Falcons or his best bud Tom Brady to the Rose Garden? It’ll be a close one: The Pats are favored by just three points.
Ferguson on Trump’s Promise
Be sure to check out our own Andy Ferguson’s short item in Friday’s Wall Street Journal for his take on the promise of the Trump administration. Here’s an excerpt:
Song of the Day
“Across the Sea,” by Weezer
