Trump Presidency showmanship via the bully pulpit of Twitter #RIPUSA,#americaHangsItsHeadInshame,$KeepTrumpInCheck

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Donald Trump has successfully sold himself as a businessman, an entertainer and a president. Now he’s ready to market his 2017 agenda.

The president-elect is signaling he’ll use Twitter, large rallies and a sharp tongue — the same weapons that won him the election — to advance his presidency.


Trump already has millions of social media followers and an ability to dominate the media.

Starting on Jan. 20, he will be in control of the most powerful force in politics: the presidential bully pulpit.

With a Republican-controlled House and Senate, the president-elect has an enormous opportunity to pass a slew of legislation that would could both shape Trump's legacy and torpedo at least some of what President Obama accomplished during his eight years in office.

Some Democrats believe that Trump will fail as commander in chief in spectacular fashion, which would of course help them in the 2018 and 2020 elections. But many Democrats don't grasp the potential power of Trump's White House messaging operation and what they are up against.

Republicans, for their part, are salivating at what could come next.

Many think Trump will be able to steam roll his agenda through Congress given GOP control of both chambers and the insecurity of Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018 in states won by Trump.

These members include Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.). Trump won Missouri, Indiana and Montana by about 20 percentage points each. He captured North Dakota by more than 36 points and West Virginia by a margin of 42 points.

The real estate mogul, despite never having run for office, eviscerated his political rivals by portraying them as weak and beholden to Washington's “corrupt” ways.

He gave his 2016 challengers nicknames, such as “low energy” Jeb Bush, “lying” Ted Cruz and “crooked” Hillary Clinton.

Lawmakers, most notably Democratic leaders in Congress who get in Trump's way, could get their own nicknames.

If other red-state Democrats buck his nominees and/or his agenda, don't be surprised to see Trump visit their states to drive home his points. The president-elect loves rallies, and it's a good bet that he will be traveling outside the Beltway a lot.

There are already signs that Democrats could have trouble in holding a united front against Trump’s agenda.

Manchin, for example, was the first Democratic senator to back Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Trump's nominee for attorney general.

It’s not just Democrats who have to worry.

Trump showed he isn't shy in going after members of his own party throughout the 2016 presidential cycle. And that probably won't change in 2017 and 2018.

The conservative-leaning House Freedom Caucus and outside right-wing groups are wary of Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure proposal and want the 45th president to focus on reducing the nation's record debt levels. The Freedom Caucus was instrumental in pushing former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) out the door, but picking a fight with Trump is another thing entirely. Most Republicans in the House don't worry about their November election — they worry about their primaries. And crossing Trump could risk a challenge from the right in the 2018 cycle.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Trump feuded in 2016, but in the name of party unity and policy, they have put aside their differences. And in a related development, Ryan's approval rating just hit an all-time high earlier this month.

After the election, Ryan said it's time for the Republican Party to “go big” and “bold.” Trump wouldn't have it any other way, though there are inherent risks with an aggressive strategy without a supermajority in the Senate.

Republicans who publicly ripped Trump are now getting in line, so muscling big-ticket items through the upper chamber using budget reconciliation shouldn't be that challenging. Those bills, such as ObamaCare repeal, would only need 51 Senate votes to pass. But replacing ObamaCare, building a wall along the southern border and clearing a Supreme Court nominee will necessitate 60 votes.

That’s where Trump's bully pulpit will come in, calling out Democrats from both red and purple states that he won on Election Day.

While Trump may not be up to speed on the nuances of the legislative process, those mechanics will be handled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Ryan.

Still, the fate of pending bills isn't decided by tactics. It comes down to marketing and political muscle, which play to Trump's strengths.

Trump will surely have a slew of critics of anything he wants to do. They will throw everything they have to kill his agenda.

Trump's likely response: “This bill will help make America great again. It should be passed as soon as possible.”

Democrats will need to step up their messaging game to thwart Trump's agenda. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who will be minority leader next year, had pledged to work with Trump on areas of common ground. He has also vowed to battle Trump when warranted, most notably on attempts to eradicate Obama's legacy laws.

Since the election, Schumer has called for Democrats to craft “a bold economic platform,” a clear acknowledgement that Clinton's muddled message was no match for Trump's “Make American Great Again.”

Oy Vey God Save America from the Nudnik Donny T.Donald Trump and the art of the boomerang insult.Donald Trump has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style It's a strategy that muddies differences between Trump and his rivals and helps neutralize vulnerabilities

Donald Trump and the art of the boomerang insult.Donald Trump has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style It's a strategy that muddies differences between Trump and his rivals and helps neutralize vulnerabilities

Donald Trump has embraced a tried-and-true schoolyard bully tactic to swat away Hillary Clinton's barbs: He's flinging her words right back at her.Clinton has accused Trump of being thin-skinned, feeding "prejudice and paranoia" and lacking any "real solutions."

Trump -- never one to dodge a fight -- has returned fire in recent weeks, calling Clinton "trigger-happy," a "bigot" and accusing her of running a "policy-free" campaign.The Republican nominee has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style. But he's also developed a sub-specialty: the boomerang insult.

Rather than running from the words his opponents hurl at him, Trump seizes them, shakes them up and turns them around. It's a strategy that muddies stark differences between Trump and his rivals, and helps neutralize political vulnerabilities.

"Whatever he does, he accuses everyone else of doing," Ted Cruz, whom Trump relentlessly attacked as a liar during the Republican primaries, said at a fiery press conference the morning of the Indiana primary in May. "In a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying. He accuses everybody on that debate stage of lying. And it's simply a mindless yell."

Trump's GOP primary opponents also relentlessly pegged the brash billionaire with the same accusation as he sketched out, with little specificity, grandiose promises to rid America of all undocumented immigrants, send the economy roaring and force other countries to bend at the knee -- all while lowering the federal debt. And like with Clinton, Trump threw the attacks back. "Hillary Clinton is running a policy-free campaign. She offers no ideas, no solutions and only hatred and derision," Trump said Tuesday during a rally in Clive, Iowa.
Businesses could pose conflicts of interest for a President Trump

And on a call with reporters Tuesday morning previewing a new policy proposal, a Trump campaign official accused Clinton of "basically running a completely idea-free, issues-free campaign." The attack is one Clinton has lobbed time and again at Trump.
"Donald Trump offers no real solutions for the economic challenges we face," Clinton said in June. "He just continues to spout reckless ideas that will run up our debt and cause another economic crash."

While Trump has delivered an increasing number of policy speeches offering more specifics on a range of issues, including one Tuesday night on paid family leave, Clinton and her running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine last week released a 256-page policy book and the Democrats' campaign website lays out policy proposals to address 38 issues compared to eight on Trump's website.

"Like a schoolyard bully who can't rely on facts or issues, Trump has only one way of responding to legitimate criticism of his own vulnerabilities: 'I know you are, but what am I?'" Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement to CNN. "You could dismiss these actions as insecure schoolyard behavior but this man is running to be President of the United States."

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Over the past few weeks, Trump and Clinton have exchanged a volley of attacks on everything from the "bigotry" of each other's candidacies to the other's temperament to serve as commander-in-chief.Just a day after Clinton said in an interview that jihadists were praying, "Oh please Allah, make Trump president of America," the Republican nominee fired back at his rival with ricochet-like reflex."Oh boy would they (ISIS) dream of having her as president," Trump said Friday during a speech in Washington. "Can you imagine? They dream about it every night having Hillary Clinton."

While Clinton has pointed to Trump's vitriolic rhetoric and quickness to fire off insults whenever he feels slighted, he has offered little evidence to back up his boomerang attack.
This week, the real estate mogul repeatedly slammed Clinton as "trigger-happy" and "unstable" as the two sparred over national security and each other's fitness to be commander-in-chief -- returning a frequent attack of Clinton's.

"Imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States. Imagine him deciding whether to send your spouses or children into battle. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he's angry, but America's entire arsenal," Clinton said during a speech in June in San Diego.


Obama in Philadelphia: 'I really, really, really want to elect Hillary Clinton'
"Do we want him making those calls -- someone thin-skinned and quick to anger, who lashes out at the smallest criticism?" Clinton continued. "Do we want his finger anywhere near the button?"One of Clinton's most persistent criticisms of Trump is his fitness to serve as commander in chief: that he lacks the "temperament" to be president."I have the best temperament," Trump has said repeatedly at rallies raising Clinton's attack. "She has bad temperament."

Trump, meanwhile, has returned the attack by pointing to Clinton's support for military interventions, including her vote for the Iraq War and her push for the US to intervene militarily in Libya -- both of which Trump publicly supported.

As Clinton prepared to deliver a speech eviscerating Trump for legitimizing white supremacists and cozying up to far-right extremists, Trump responded in kind.
"From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia," Clinton said last month in Reno, Nevada, slamming Trump for his "steady stream of bigotry."
Trump's retort came just hours after the Clinton campaign released snippets of the biting speech."Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future," Trump said during a speech in Jackson, Mississippi.
Clinton, a Democrat who has forged deep ties with African-American leaders over her decades on the national political scene, has the support of more than 90% of black Americans, according to the latest polls.Trump's support with black voters is in very low  single-digits.

Oy Vey God Save America from the Nudnik Donny T.Donald Trump and the art of the boomerang insult.Donald Trump has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style It's a strategy that muddies differences between Trump and his rivals and helps neutralize vulnerabilities

Donald Trump and the art of the boomerang insult.Donald Trump has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style It's a strategy that muddies differences between Trump and his rivals and helps neutralize vulnerabilities

Donald Trump has embraced a tried-and-true schoolyard bully tactic to swat away Hillary Clinton's barbs: He's flinging her words right back at her.Clinton has accused Trump of being thin-skinned, feeding "prejudice and paranoia" and lacking any "real solutions."

Trump -- never one to dodge a fight -- has returned fire in recent weeks, calling Clinton "trigger-happy," a "bigot" and accusing her of running a "policy-free" campaign.The Republican nominee has gotten plenty of attention for his trash-talking and bare-knuckle style. But he's also developed a sub-specialty: the boomerang insult.

Rather than running from the words his opponents hurl at him, Trump seizes them, shakes them up and turns them around. It's a strategy that muddies stark differences between Trump and his rivals, and helps neutralize political vulnerabilities.

"Whatever he does, he accuses everyone else of doing," Ted Cruz, whom Trump relentlessly attacked as a liar during the Republican primaries, said at a fiery press conference the morning of the Indiana primary in May. "In a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying. He accuses everybody on that debate stage of lying. And it's simply a mindless yell."

Trump's GOP primary opponents also relentlessly pegged the brash billionaire with the same accusation as he sketched out, with little specificity, grandiose promises to rid America of all undocumented immigrants, send the economy roaring and force other countries to bend at the knee -- all while lowering the federal debt. And like with Clinton, Trump threw the attacks back. "Hillary Clinton is running a policy-free campaign. She offers no ideas, no solutions and only hatred and derision," Trump said Tuesday during a rally in Clive, Iowa.
Businesses could pose conflicts of interest for a President Trump

And on a call with reporters Tuesday morning previewing a new policy proposal, a Trump campaign official accused Clinton of "basically running a completely idea-free, issues-free campaign." The attack is one Clinton has lobbed time and again at Trump.
"Donald Trump offers no real solutions for the economic challenges we face," Clinton said in June. "He just continues to spout reckless ideas that will run up our debt and cause another economic crash."

While Trump has delivered an increasing number of policy speeches offering more specifics on a range of issues, including one Tuesday night on paid family leave, Clinton and her running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine last week released a 256-page policy book and the Democrats' campaign website lays out policy proposals to address 38 issues compared to eight on Trump's website.

"Like a schoolyard bully who can't rely on facts or issues, Trump has only one way of responding to legitimate criticism of his own vulnerabilities: 'I know you are, but what am I?'" Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement to CNN. "You could dismiss these actions as insecure schoolyard behavior but this man is running to be President of the United States."

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Over the past few weeks, Trump and Clinton have exchanged a volley of attacks on everything from the "bigotry" of each other's candidacies to the other's temperament to serve as commander-in-chief.Just a day after Clinton said in an interview that jihadists were praying, "Oh please Allah, make Trump president of America," the Republican nominee fired back at his rival with ricochet-like reflex."Oh boy would they (ISIS) dream of having her as president," Trump said Friday during a speech in Washington. "Can you imagine? They dream about it every night having Hillary Clinton."

While Clinton has pointed to Trump's vitriolic rhetoric and quickness to fire off insults whenever he feels slighted, he has offered little evidence to back up his boomerang attack.
This week, the real estate mogul repeatedly slammed Clinton as "trigger-happy" and "unstable" as the two sparred over national security and each other's fitness to be commander-in-chief -- returning a frequent attack of Clinton's.

"Imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States. Imagine him deciding whether to send your spouses or children into battle. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he's angry, but America's entire arsenal," Clinton said during a speech in June in San Diego.


Obama in Philadelphia: 'I really, really, really want to elect Hillary Clinton'
"Do we want him making those calls -- someone thin-skinned and quick to anger, who lashes out at the smallest criticism?" Clinton continued. "Do we want his finger anywhere near the button?"One of Clinton's most persistent criticisms of Trump is his fitness to serve as commander in chief: that he lacks the "temperament" to be president."I have the best temperament," Trump has said repeatedly at rallies raising Clinton's attack. "She has bad temperament."

Trump, meanwhile, has returned the attack by pointing to Clinton's support for military interventions, including her vote for the Iraq War and her push for the US to intervene militarily in Libya -- both of which Trump publicly supported.

As Clinton prepared to deliver a speech eviscerating Trump for legitimizing white supremacists and cozying up to far-right extremists, Trump responded in kind.
"From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia," Clinton said last month in Reno, Nevada, slamming Trump for his "steady stream of bigotry."
Trump's retort came just hours after the Clinton campaign released snippets of the biting speech."Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future," Trump said during a speech in Jackson, Mississippi.
Clinton, a Democrat who has forged deep ties with African-American leaders over her decades on the national political scene, has the support of more than 90% of black Americans, according to the latest polls.Trump's support with black voters is in very low  single-digits.

God Save America from Donny T - The Duplicity of Donald Trump

The Duplicity of Donald Trump by Charles M Blow ( with permission of the author and the NY Times ) 

Donald Trump is the internet troll of presidential politics. When he’s securely removed from the objects of his scorn, he’s tough as nails; when he’s in their presence, he quivers like a bowl of Jell-O.

Such is the way of a bully.

Furthermore, when he is surrounded by supporters who cheer his base nature, he amplifies the enmity. When the applause of hostility is out of earshot, he tones down his vitriol to a whimper.

He is not only a bully, it seems to me, but also something of a coward, who lacks the force of his convictions — or who lacks basic convictions at all. He seems to be simply playing to the audience, whatever that audience may be. He’s amenable to the mood of any particular room.

This is the most frightening type of man, whose basic character is vile but not inviolable, who springs from darkness and bends toward anything that casts light, even if that light is, as the internet loves to say, a dumpster fire.

Case in point: Trump has spent the whole of his campaign maligning Mexican immigrants, people of “Mexican heritage” and the country of Mexico itself.

The Hillary Clinton campaign was quick to remind voters of the horrid things Trump has tweeted about Mexico and Mexicans, and the list was a doozy.

They included calling the Mexican government “totally corrupt” and the Mexican court system “dishonest” and saying that “Mexico is not our friend” and ”I want nothing to do with Mexico other than to build an impenetrable WALL and stop them from ripping off U.S.”

Indeed, one of Trump’s main focuses has been the wall — which he has insisted from the beginning that he would make Mexico pay for — and a “deportation force” to round up and deport all of the approximately 11 million immigrants who are in this country illegally.

Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.

These are the Mexican immigrants who Trump initially described this way: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

And yet, when he made the quick decision to visit Mexico Wednesday and meet with that country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, Trump was much more contrite in his comments. Indeed, for most of the subsequent news conference, Trump looked lost and confused.

As Trump put it:

“I happen to have a tremendous feeling for Mexican-Americans not only in terms of friendships, but in terms of the tremendous numbers that I employ in the United States and they are amazing people, amazing people. I have many friends, so many friends and so many friends coming to Mexico and in Mexico. I am proud to say how many people I employ. And the United States first, second and third generation Mexicans are just beyond reproach. Spectacular, spectacular hard-working people. I have such great respect for them and their strong values of family, faith and community.”

Huh? Who is this guy? Of course, this time he was reading a speech. This is no doubt some soft-pedal written by his aides to make him sound more human and less monstrous.

Kellyanne Conway, you are one of the best ventriloquists in politics, the way you put words in this man’s mouth. But I’m not buying it. You can repackage your bigot if you choose, but the basic contours of the man betray your efforts to remake him. And, your support and promotion of him makes you one of the most dangerous, though soft-spoken, people in America at this moment.

According to Trump, he didn’t even discuss with Peña Nieto that he would demand that Mexico pay for the Southern border wall. But Peña Nieto disputed that account, tweetingin Spanish: “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.” If you believe Peña Nieto, Trump, the self-proclaimed tough negotiator, not only choked but openly lied about choking.

And this is the supposedly brassy billionaire people support because he’s tough and tells it like it is? Trump is a paper tiger if ever there was one.

And then, a few hours later in Arizona, at what was billed as a major policy speech on his now muddled stance on immigration, and before his jeering acolytes, he gave a speech full of fear, about murderous immigrants, and reiterated that he would build a southern border wall and, you guessed it, Mexico would pay for it.

Trump was back to his hate. He was back to his hyperbolic histrionics.

This is what every voter must remember: Trump has two faces and two sets of facts and too much latitude to spread his animus, anti-intellectualism and lies, and he must never see the inside of the Oval Office.