On Monday, the Trump–Russia story deepened with multiple revelations about Michael Flynn. First came the news that just two days after the election, President Barack Obama warned Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as national security adviser. That warning punches a huge hole in the “Michael Flynn was Obama’s fault” narrative that the Trump regime has been attempting to build. Despite the fact that Obama canned Flynn from his position at Defense, Trump has been in full Pontius Pilate mode when it comes to the man he embraced as a foreign policy adviser and surrogate, made national security adviser, and short listed for vice-president.
At mid-day, Sean Spicer stated that Trump didn’t take President Obama seriously, putting the warning down to personal dislike. Because apparently Spicer thinks it acceptable that the president might “jest” about who should fill a critical security function.
In the afternoon, we were graced by the arresting testimony from former acting attorney general Sally Yates. Yates made it clear that far from a quick “heads up” on Flynn, she met twice with White House counsel Don McGahn to provide a detailed, thorough analysis of what Flynn had done and the risk it generated. Yates focused on how Flynn’s behavior opened the national security adviser to outside control, and exposed the nation to danger through both the potential release of classified information and spread of propaganda.
The end result of the day’s testimony and statements should be utterly bruising for Trump. He got a warning face to face from the president. He ignored it. He got a detailed, documented, in-depth presentation from the acting attorney general. He ignored it.
But neither of those incidents is as damaging as the third item: Sean Spicer’s excuse. That excuse speaks directly to Trump’s own judgement—or complete lack of the same. For Trump, everything is personal. He’s unable to make a decision based on facts or ability. It’s all about “who said good things about me.” And he assumes the rest of the world works the same way. In showing that he was willing to dismiss a threat to the nation because he frames everything as a personal manner, Donald Trump showcases his position as the easiest man on the planet to control.
Kushner knows how to do it.
White House officials told the Associated Press on Monday that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, served as a conduit between Canada and the U.S. following reports that Trump was considering pulling out of NAFTA. The White House aides told the AP that Trudeau called Kushner about the reports and Kushner set up a call between Trudeau and Trump.
How do you get Donald Trump to make a 180-degree turn on one of his core policy issues? Have someone make a quick call and flatter him.
Putin knows how to do it.
LAUER: Do you think the day that you become president of the United States, he's going to change his mind on some of these key issues?
TRUMP: Possibly. It's possible. I don't know, Matt. It's possible. And it's not going to have any impact. If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him. I've already said, he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, 'Oh, isn't that a terrible thing' -- the man has very strong control over a country.
How to make Trump embrace a anti-democratic force that threatens to undo decades of peace? All it takes is a few nice words.
And Michael Flynn certainly knew how to do it. He latched onto Trump, flattered him, loved the things he loved, hated the people he hated. In the end Trump wouldn’t let Flynn go—no matter how well articulated the threat—until the Washington Post made the ex-general’s actions public.
Even absent the connection to Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, the connection between Trump and Flynn shows a staggering danger to the country. It shows a man who is not only astoundingly weak and in need of constant boosts to his ego, but so dedicated to dealing with things on a personal, emotional, “gut” level that he can’t see facts when they are right in front of his face.
The conferences on Monday may have been about Michael Flynn. But the news was about Donald Trump.