Trump back to relying on his instincts
President Trump has defied his party and White House norms repeatedly in the past week — firing his secretary of State, imposing steep tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, and announcing his intention to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader.
The latest stretch of the Trump presidency had also seen two other significant resignations in addition to Rex Tillerson’s departure. Hope Hicks is stepping down as communications director and Gary Cohn is departing as chief economic adviser.
The personnel changes, in addition to the policy moves, have fueled speculation that the president will be ever more reliant on his own instincts and even less inclined to listen to dissenting voices. That approach served Trump well on the 2016 campaign trail, where he took on establishment Republicans and Democrats repeatedly. And Trump has appeared to enjoy freewheeling, campaign-like appearances far more than heavily scripted teleprompter addresses during his presidency.
The future of H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, is the focus of much rumor, though the White House has denied that there are any plans to push him out.
Supporters of the president don’t dismiss out of hand the idea that there could be more changes. And some welcome the idea.
“By firing these establishment figures — and others to come — this is Trump playing more to his core base,” said one Republican operative.
http://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/378270-the-memo-trump-back-to-relying-on-his-instincts?userid=229233
Sure play to one third of the country. Such a winning strategy.
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