No Matter What Trump Does, He's Still Just a Republican Tool

This Monday, be thankful you don't work in the White House. Donald Trump is grouchy and considering firing a bunch of people, though actually getting fired might be better than working for a president who surprises everyone with his indiscreet tweets. The latest 140-character missive to turn into a major news story was Trump's cheeky hint that he might have taped conversations with then FBI Director James Comey, which predictably led to members of Congress demanding he release those tapes if they exist.

Questions about those tapes—and any conversations Comey had with Trump before he got fired—will no doubt dominate the news in the coming days. Several Senate Republicans are signaling that they're concerned about all this scandal and irrationality. Oh, and Trump's admission, to NBC, that his initial rationale for firing Comey was BS has some people thinking he could be impeached for obstruction of justice. Did someone say chaos? Chaos! Chaos.

Yet this was all to be expected, to a degree. As a candidate, Trump was scandal-ridden, prone to bizarre misstatements and exaggerations, and unfettered by the usual rules of politics. Yet Republicans supported him anyway, many of them because they knew that whatever his flaws and blunders, he would advance their agenda. That bargain has largely held up: As president, Trump has nominated conservative judges, wiped out environmental regulations, and promised to cut taxes for the wealthy and businesses.

On issues like healthcare and tax reform, it doesn't matter so much if Trump supports or even understands the GOP position as long as he signs the legislation the Republican-dominated Congress puts before him. We saw this during the recent budget deal, which Democrats and Republicans negotiated on while ignoring Trump's priorities entirely.

The investigations into the Trump campaign's alleged coordination with Russia may or may not turn up any wrongdoing (nothing conclusive has been proved so far). But in the meantime, the Senate is continuing to work on its version of healthcare reform; unless intra-party discord derails Republican efforts, they'll be able to kill Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act before the end of the year. That legislation will likely be standard-issue GOP fare that cuts taxes for the rich and strips away more of the social safety net. Not exactly populist stuff, but Trump will have no interest in vetoing it. He might give Republicans a headache, but ultimately to them he's just a hand that can sign on the line which is dotted.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway once said, while discussing her boss's election victory, "There's a difference for voters between what offends you and what affects you." You might also say that there's a difference between what alarms you and affects you. Trump's conflicts of interest and his campaign's alleged Russia links might be alarming—and they'll certainly be the target of investigations if Democrats retake the House in 2018—but they don't affect too many people.

The same, however, cannot be said for the Republican healthcare effort, or the bill passed in February allowing states to keep federal money away from abortion providers. Legislative battles over measures like those will be far more important for most people than whatever gets said in any congressional hearing.

Follow Harry Cheadle on Twitter.