Is Trump Now Secure?

The answer is Yes, with a proviso at the end of this post. Oddly Fire and Fury has helped Trump as much as it has enriched its author. Without getting into the argument of how much of the book is true and what is invention or misinformation, the disclosures about the shock in  Trump Tower at winning and the muddle and infighting in the early days in the White House in an administration without political experience and unversed in the structure and powers of the presidency, not only come as no surprise, but they actually explain a lot.

As for the stuff about Trump being like a child wanting instant gratification; that has been obvious to everybody for years. It is these very flaws in his persona and his project that make Trump attractive to a large swathe of US voters and underscore his greatest attraction; the outsider who does politics his own way. Even his Twitter account, which so many dislike, works for him, not because voters dislike what Trump says to them on a whim, but because he is the first president to say anything to them at all. First the people, second Washington. It is a very powerful brand.

The high poll ratings for his State of the Union address suggest that more people are beginning to come to terms with Trump’s odd ball ways and are beginning to see the opportunities these are opening up for America. His future and that of the Republicans will be determined by how big a slice of America benefits. But what is for sure is the fact that nothing about Trump shocks, because it is expected. So gaffes, disclosures, accusations and actions which would sink many leaders have no effect on Trump at all. He has become bullet proof. Even the Russia investigation is now swinging away from the White House and back into the FBI itself. So one year in, things for Trump look pretty good.

The one bullet which would blow the Trump presidency apart would be proof, not rumour, that sanctions had been broken to fund either Trump’s business or his campaign, with Russian money.