President Donald Trump just keeps pushing the envelope — his appointment of a controversial housing official as the new acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday is the freshest evidence of that.
But recent events have also reinforced that political gravity still applies to the president. Some of his most jarring ideas have hit roadblocks in the courts and forced even Republicans to buck him, showing that his domination of Washington is hardly a given anymore.
On Monday, CNN reported that the administration signaled to GOP congressional leaders that it plans to drop its $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” after an adverse court ruling. The fund had caused a GOP revolt and threatened the party’s broader legislative agenda.
That followed Trump on Friday seemingly giving up on his efforts to Trump-ify the Kennedy Center. He said he would transfer control of it to Congress after a judge ruled that putting Trump’s name on the center was illegal and blocked a planned closure.
In both situations, it remains up in the air precisely how much Trump has capitulated. But he’s at least telegraphing retreat.
