Following the indictments of Russian collaborators Paul Manafort and Rick Gates on Monday, with the surprise revelation that former campaign aide George Papadopolous was cooperating with the Mueller investigation, mentally unstable narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump is under media scrutiny for his reaction. Despite his lame outreach to his New York Times stenographer Maggie Haberman to assure everyone he's perfectly serene and "not angry at anybody," Rump-watcher Gabe Sherman writes at Vanity Fair's The Hive that Rump is "apoplectic" at the turn of events, watching his favorite Fux Channel shows and getting spun up by them. Sherman reports that the seriousness of the investigation has White (Supremacist) House officials looking at "endgames" for Rump:
"The first charges in the Mueller probe have kindled talk of what the endgame for Trump looks like, according to conversations with a half-dozen advisers and friends of the president. For the first time since the investigation began, the prospect of impeachment is being considered as a realistic outcome and not just a liberal fever dream. According to a source, advisers in the West Wing are on edge and doing whatever they can not to be ensnared. One person close to Dina Powell and Gary Cohn said they’re making sure to leave rooms if the subject of Russia comes up."There's also the added problem for Rump that he's listening to former advisor, radical white supremacist Steve "Loose Cannon" Bannon, who's urging Rump to go on the attack, something that his legal team fear will only deepen his legal problems:
"In a series of phone calls with Trump on Monday and Tuesday, Bannon told the president to shake up the legal team by installing an aggressive lawyer above Cobb, according to two sources briefed on the call. Bannon has also discussed ways to pressure Congress to defund Mueller’s investigation or limit its scope. 'Mueller shouldn’t be allowed to be a clean shot on goal,' a Bannon confidant told me. 'He must be contested and checked. Right now he has unchecked power.'”With Rump's poll numbers slipping (33% approval in the most recent Gallup poll), no legislative accomplishments and his tax "reform" bill looking like a black hole, Rump's allies fear that "establishment" Rethuglicans may do the unthinkable:
"Bannon’s sense of urgency is being fueled by his belief that Trump’s hold on power is slipping. The collapse of Obamacare repeal, and the dimming chances that tax reform will pass soon—many Trump allies are deeply pessimistic about its prospects—have created the political climate for establishment Republicans to turn on Trump. Two weeks ago, according to a source, Bannon did a spitball analysis of the Cabinet to see which members would remain loyal to Trump in the event the 25th Amendment were invoked, thereby triggering a vote to remove the president from office. Bannon recently told people he’s not sure if Trump would survive such a vote." (emphasis added)As the investigation spreads to close allies and family (Jared Kushner has to be panicking), Rump's pretense of calm will shatter. He'll revert to form by taking some reckless action as the walls start closing in.
