That’s what columnist Andrew Malcolm recommends, at least when dealing with the president’s efforts to represent his own views as spokesman.
Trump can be a master showman, highly skilled at setting the media’s agenda for covering him. It worked during that endless campaign against an inept opponent. The scrappiness enhanced his image as a truth-to-power maverick who made billions by doing things his way.
But the current agenda Trump is setting for public discussion about Trump is self-destructive toward his professed long-term goal of fundamentally changing Washington. This is in large part because the president does not realize yet that being a candidate and a commander-in-chief are quite different.
Trump is a team captain now, not the team owner. He lacks the humility to trust the highly qualified team he so often boasted about creating and then created. He’s reportedly pondering shaking up his press office, instead of his own behavior. …
… Trump is a marvelous communicator. But he is a terrible communications strategist clearly incapable of heeding crucial advice or thinking beyond the next tweet.
The Boss is still stepping all over his own messages with distractions destructive to long-term achievements. If Comey’s firing had been properly planned, prepared and executed – especially everyone getting the same story straight – the media could have been led to focus on Comey’s replacement.
