President Donald Trump’s political mantra is “fight, fight, fight.”
asserted
mantra → fight → ?
But he has given decidedly mixed messages about whether he will do so after Republicans were hammered in the midterms.
asserted
Republicans → give → midterms
In the week since becoming a lame duck, Trump named the hardline architect of his migration crackdown as his chief of staff, while admitting his deportation policy was too tough.
asserted
policy → become → staff
The 80-year-old raised eyebrows when he publicly asked Ultimate Fighting Championship boss Dana White to be his new press secretary — then claimed he was just joking.
asserted
he → raise → White
He has admitted that the Iran war was largely to blame for the midterms rout.
asserted
war → admit → rout
But he has strongly backed Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s battle against impeachment.
asserted
he → back → impeachment
And despite saying on election night that he’d accept the results of the Democratic sweep, he has reverted to type and revived baseless claims of election fraud.
uncertain
he → say → fraud
“One of the characteristics of Donald Trump is that he changes his mind on a dime,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons told CNN.
asserted
Coons → change → CNN
“He’ll be praising someone on Monday, firing them on Tuesday, and pretending he never knew them on Wednesday.
asserted
he → praise → Wednesday
So it’s hard to predict exactly what Donald Trump is going to do.
asserted
Trump → ’ → what
‘Too tough’
Democrats have promised to rein in Trump and launch a series of investigations into corruption and abuse of power.
asserted
Democrats → promise → power
He could face a third impeachment.
uncertain
He → face → impeachment
But for a president supposedly facing his last stand, he has at times struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone.
asserted
he → face → tone
As results came in, he congratulated Democrats on seizing Congress and said he could work with them.
uncertain
he → come → them
Instead of a press conference the next day, he gave reporters a tour of his new White House ballroom — sparking speculation he might spend the rest of his term on his building projects.
uncertain
he → give → projects
In the Oval Office, Trump placed a red baseball cap saying “veto” on his desk.
asserted
Trump → place → desk
And when Trump announced on Friday that ultraloyalist Stephen Miller would replace Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, it seemed that the gloves were finally off.
asserted
gloves → announce → staff
The brains behind the masked immigration raids that left two Americans dead, Miller has also been instrumental in using executive orders to help Trump bypass Congress.
asserted
Trump → leave → Congress
Yet in an interview the same day — though broadcast on Sunday — Trump conceded voters had been turned off by the aggressive deportation push.
asserted
voters → broadcast → push
“I think it was too tough,” Trump told the CBS News “60 Minutes” program.
asserted
Trump → think → program
Still, the chances of Trump doing a deal with Democrats — possibly even for an amnesty for undocumented migrants — remain low.
“It doesn’t seem likely.
uncertain
It → do → migrants
Not with this decision to have Stephen Miller running the show,” Sarah Binder, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said in a panel discussion this week.
asserted
Binder → run → discussion
Trump’s astonishing announcement on Saturday that he wanted “violent fighter and warrior” Dana White to be his new spokesman also seemed to signal a war footing.
asserted
White → want → footing
If it seemed too ironic to be true, it was.
asserted
it → seem → ?
A day later Trump said he was “kidding.”
asserted
he → say → ?
Ever the showman, the former reality TV star brought the UFC boss to the White House podium for an unexpected visit on Monday, where White turned down the job.
asserted
White → bring → job
It’s a fight Trump appears to be joining with relish — saying that Hegseth “gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” shortly after the Pentagon chief gave a press conference calling the charges a “farce.”
asserted
chief → ’ → charges
But Hegseth will know that Trump is rarely shy of shaking up his staff.
asserted
Trump → know → staff
He jettisoned Wiles just over two weeks after saying there was “zero chance” he would sack her.
asserted
he → jettison → her
And Trump himself admitted he isn’t likely to change his stripes.
asserted
he → admit → stripes
Asked by CBS if he could forgive his foes, when faced with going to heaven or not, he demurred.
uncertain
he → ask → heaven
I probably cannot do that, no.
asserted
I → do → that
Because I do hate some of my enemies, and I always will”.
asserted
I → hate → enemies
The Aporia
