The AWOL President

Early Wednesday morning, the president of the United States embarked on yet another ugly Twitter ramble. This time, he retweeted videos spread by a British Islamophobe, bragged about the stock market's numbers, opined about the firing of Today host Matt Lauer for "inappropriate sexual behavior," appeared to reference an old, discredited rumor about MSNBC personality Joe Scarborough being involved in the death of an intern, and announced new (possible) sanctions against North Korea.

Predictably, this sent people into a tizzy on social media. Donald Trump's apparent endorsement of Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First who has been convicted of an anti-Muslim hate crime, was a legitimately alarming reminder of his bigoted views, if not exactly shocking. But mostly, Trump's desperate scratching at his phone revealed a chief executive who has been historically inept in his first year, has no idea how to right the ship, and is increasingly frustrated by his own impotence.

Trump should have plenty to consume his days. His Republican allies in Congress are working overtime to push through an ambitious (and undercooked) tax reform package. It's a blockbuster effort to make the rich richer that Trump didn't mention on Twitter early Wednesday, though he was scheduled to speak about it in Missouri that afternoon. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the House GOP was planning to overhaul higher education, according to a Wall Street Journal scoop. Trump and the Republicans need Democratic votes to pass a bill keeping the federal government running by December 8, a situation that has led to opposition leaders theatrically no-showing a meeting with Trump—who responded by calling them "weak." The Children's Health Insurance program somehow remains (cruelly) unfunded. Puerto Rico is still desperately in need of help. The administration has not come up with an adequate response to the ongoing opioid crisis.

Even on the agenda items Trump has pursued—and not just tweeted about—he's been stymied. His proposed budget was greeted with bipartisan derision in Congress. His attempt to bar trans people from serving in the military was once again batted down in court this week. The "travel ban" that would restrict citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US remains snarled in litigation, though it has been implemented in part. The high-profile effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act cratered this summer, and despite the administration's efforts to sabotage it, more people have signed up for ACA plans in 2017 than at this time last year. During debt ceiling negotiations in September, Trump abruptly sided with Democrats and gave in to their request for a short-term increase—a move that set the stage for this current confrontation over a potential government shutdown. As for Trump's famous wall, it remains unbuilt (though companies have been building prototypes), and Congress allocated no money to its construction in the last government funding deal.

Then there are the scandals. The health and human services secretary, Tom Price, had to resign in disgrace after his addiction to private planes was revealed by Politico. National security adviser Michael Flynn was forced out barely a month into the administration because he lied about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, and remains at the center of multiple bizarre controversies that may end with him in prison or testifying against other Trump officials. Presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner may be on the brink of going back to New York City, perhaps to try to fix his terrible real estate deals. And hanging over everything is the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller that seems to sprawl every day.

Is the president responding to this adversity by bearing down and helping his nominal allies in Congress get stuff done? No, he's tweeting aimlessly at his television, privately spewing nonsensical theories about how the infamous "grab them by the pussy" tape and Barack Obama's birth certificate were both fake, and doing lots of golfing.

Even a half-assed president wields enormous power, of course. Notably, Trump has empowered federal agents to arrest undocumented immigrants en masse (though the number of deportations is not rising) and has apparently endorsed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's hollowing out of the American diplomatic corps. His appointment of arch conservative Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, along with many other judicial appointments at lower levels, will have untold long-terms effects on the country. But on many issues, he's a "paper tiger dressed in a cowardly lion’s costume," to quote Jack Shafer's assessment of Trump's all-bark-no-bite threats against the media.

On Tuesday, congressional Democrats announced they would attempt to negotiate with their Republican counterparts over a shutdown-avoiding budget deal and leave Trump out of it—a bit of posturing to be sure, but Trump would probably sign any bill that came out of Congress, just as he did in April. Cutting him out of the discussion has become a routine tactic for other DC power players—White House economic adviser Gary Cohn reportedly did just that by faking a bad connection to get Trump off the phone during a recent tax reform discussion.

If this month's election results were any guide, the 2018 midterms may signal the end of Republican domination of Congress, making Trump's dreams even harder to realize. If his power does wane even further, expect more and more heated Twitter rants. Even if he never figures out how DC operates, he obviously knows how to work his phone.

Follow Harry Cheadle on Twitter.