Trump returns to DC ‘ swamp’
Campaign’s Russian contacts continue to haunt him
US President Donald Trump returns to Washington Sunday after a brief overseas respite, facing an enduring and intensifying storm over his campaign’s contacts with Russia.
During two pomp- filled days in Paris and another two playing maitre d’ to professional female golfers driving, chipping and putting their way around his Bedminster course in New Jersey, Trump was in his element.
In the French capital, Trump played the role of honored guest, wooed by new President Emmanuel Macron who was determined to reassert France’s importance on the world stage.
The visit seemed – and indeed was – tailor made for Trump.
It was the presidency as he would no doubt like it, ceremonial, aggrandizing and shorn of its onerous security briefings and tedious policy debates.
Trump even got to attend a military parade of the sort he is rumored to have wanted for his own inauguration.
For a few days, the angry tweets and the rants against the media were largely gone.
In their place, more than a dozen effusive electronic missives that were part tourist postcard, part thank- you note to a cherished host.
Trump variously thanked Macron “for the beautiful welcome ceremony,” for a “great evening dining at the Eiffel Tower” and for “great conversations.”
“It was a great honor to represent the United States at the magnificent # BastilleDay parade. Congratulations President @ EmmanuelMacron!” Trump wrote in one tweet.
Trump’s staff appeared to welcome the respite just as much as their boss, stealing away a few minutes for a late- night Parisian cocktail or Croque Monsieur.
But for staff, the release was tinged with a sense of exhaustion. The last few grueling weeks have seen them fly the president from Washington to Poland to Germany, back to Washington, on to Paris and then to Bedminster.
All the while, aides like chief of staff Reince Priebus have been chained to their phone trying to minimize the damage from new scandals at the same time as manage the passage of major legislation.
Simultaneous travel, scandal and lawmaking would be a massive challenge for even the most efficient White House, much less for Trump’s understaffed, chaotic, besieged and backstabbing administration.