While the latest tweet from President Trump obviously highlights his inconsistency, the all caps message hints at something else. Namely, his exhaustion.
Inconsistency is the obvious analysis because of the flip-flop. One day, Trump says Republicans are “wasting their time on immigration.” The next, he lets out a primal, digital scream begging his party to just do something to address the issue already.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018
A vote on immigration reform in the House provided the occasion for the tweet. It doesn’t provide any reason for optimism in the Oval Office. Trump has watched plenty of immigration bills crash and burn. This one is expected to fail as well.
Which brings us to presidential exhaustion. For Trump, immigration reform has always been about the one thing he can’t have: the wall.
That big beautiful border barrier has brought him nothing but disappointment. He asked for money last winter, $20 billion to be exact. Democrats offered $3 billion for border security measures instead and then he got nothing. He signed a continuing resolution in March which included $1.6 billion for improving existing fences and barriers. Again though, no money for the promised wall.
It has gotten so bad that Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., introduced legislation to crowd source money for the wall as if building a concrete barrier across 1,954 miles of border was as easy as sending your church’s youth group to Mexico for a mission’s trip.
Obviously the president is frustrated. He spent a lifetime in business ordering around a staff eager to follow his every word. Now he has spent 500 days as leader of the free world and has little to show for it on the southern border.
So when House Republicans came knocking and asking for assistance one more time, promising that this time would be the last time, it looks like the president begrudgingly said yes. He grabbed his phone. Didn’t both to switch off caps-lock and just fired off another tweet. Inconsistent? Who cares, the president probably thought. Congress has failed so many times already. What’s one more tweet anyway? The president is exhausted.
