Whenever Donald Trump is in political trouble, he seeks a fight and a foil.
He will get both on Friday after one of the most misjudged weeks of his two presidencies, after his own choices eroded his political authority over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Trump is embroiled in a bitter new feud with Democrats over national security, provocative rhetoric and presidential power that he deliberately turned nuclear. And at a White House meeting Friday, he’ll go head-to-head with the next mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist he’s planning to brand as the unacceptable “communist” face of the Democratic Party next year.
Trump’s political touch deserted him in recent days. He’s heard speculation about whether his decadelong grip on the GOP base is slipping. His missteps amplified the big question over Epstein — why is he so desperate to stop the evidence coming out? And his attempt to empathize with voters over the cost of living became a farce when he accused Democrats of stealing the world “affordability.”
So you just knew the president, who has gotten more irascible by the day, would look for an opening.
And he found it, taking the chance to ignite the kind of political storm that obliterates everything in its path, drags his outraged foes onto his preferred political ground, rallies conservative media and solidifies his base.
Trump tried to seize back the initiative — in the inflammatory way that only he can — in a post of social media posts and reposts that culminated by a warning that a group of Democratic lawmakers were guilty of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
His fury was pr
Continue Reading on CNN
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.