Reports during Trump’s mission to insult Europe indicated that he would return home to create a “war room” as his team prepared to win the Battle of Comey. But organizing a war on something as large as a room turned out to be a feat too complex for Team Trump to handle.
Multiple people familiar with the planning describe to a different reality: early talk of a “war room” has petered out significantly. One source close to the White House describes it flatly: “There’s no war room. Zero.” Another administration source says it simply “never took off.”
The war room having failed to spontaneously assemble, Trump’s regime is now preparing to face the potential blow-back from the Thursday testimony of James Comey with the detailed planning that usually precedes the phrase “hold my beer.” Trump has finally settled on a means of re-routing all Russia-related questions toward his fifth-favorite law firm. But other than hunkering-down and hoping that his new lawyer shield will hold, the White House is mostly practicing wincing in advance.
Still, they might get something together, if it wasn’t for that one guy who keeps blowing holes in the plan.
As long as President Donald Trump has a smartphone, no White House strategy is safe.
The sun was still rising Monday when Trump upended best-laid plans with a blitz of provocative statements delivered via Twitter. He assailed his own Justice Department for its legal strategy to defend his travel ban, potentially creating new headaches as his administration seeks the Supreme Court’s backing for the order. And he renewed his criticism of the mayor of London, a city recovering from a weekend vehicle-and-knife attack that left seven people dead.
Sean Spicer is going to have to adjust the press room rules to simply “Don’t ask me about my president.”
Why did the war room plan fail out of the gate? Because Trump is unable to plan.
Efforts to create a “war room” stocked with former campaign officials and top-flight lawyers now appear stalled. Three people briefed on the matter said the process has been bogged down by a lack of decision-making in the West Wing over how to proceed, as well as reluctance from some of those the White House hoped to recruit about serving a president who keeps getting in his own way.
Sure. It looks like a classic lack of leadership-inspired STAFU (the “T” being for Trump), but everyone is forgetting about Trump’s call for unpredictability. He was always against letting people know what his next move might be. It’s the kind of decisive move and innovative strategy that has already allowed Trump to destroy ISIS in 30 days. He did that, right? This is day 136, hour 20, minute 57 … so ISIS must be ancient history by now.
Trump’s plan will work just as well at home.