同情特朗普
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- 2003-04-13
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resident Donald Trump misstated his overall approval rating Sunday while again bashing the media for its coverage of his administration and for labeling him as “bad and evil.”
Trump claimed he had received a 52 percent approval rating, which would be his highest by far throughout his year and a half in office, and also touted a 90 percent rating among Republicans.
“Over 90% approval rating for your all time favorite (I hope) President within the Republican Party and 52% overall. This despite all of the made up stories by the Fake News Media trying endlessly to make me look as bad and evil as possible. Look at the real villains please!” Trump tweeted.
It’s unclear if the president’s statement can be tacked on to his more than 4,200 false or misleading statements cataloged by The Washington Post, or if Trump was simply confused by recent polling.
The president had indeed enjoyed high marks from members of his own party, but not from a majority of the country. Even Rasmussen Reports, which has often found far higher approval numbers for Trump both before and following his election in 2016, found last week the president had a 46 approval rating with 53 percent disapproving.
And the latest NBCNews/Wall Street Journal poll, conducted following the plea deal struck by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and the guilty verdict of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, reflected a 44 percent approval and 52 percent disapproval rating.
Cohen’s guilty plea, coupled with Manafort’s verdict, however, did not appear to hit Trump’s approval rating overall. The president has remained in the mid to low-40s in most polls for several months now after toiling in the mid to low-30s for much of last half of 2017.
The president was relatively close when he cited love amongst Republicans. Earlier this month, Gallup found Trump had received 87 percent approval from GOP members, and the president has routinely stayed in the high 80s when it comes to members of his party.
Trump has reached 90 percent approval from Republicans several times this year, including twice in June and last month. And the president has never earned an approval rating lower than 78 percent from Republicans, according to Gallup.
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(CNN)On Sunday night, as the political world was wondering whether he might offer a more fulsome celebration of the life of John McCain, President Donald Trump instead tweeted this:
"Over 90% approval rating for your all time favorite (I hope) President within the Republican Party and 52% overall. This despite all of the made up stories by the Fake News Media trying endlessly to make me look as bad and evil as possible. Look at the real villains please!"
Which, given what we know about Trump (he is uniquely self-focused) and how much he cares about positive polling (a whole hell of a lot), isn't terribly surprising.
The only problem? This poll doesn't exist.
Or, to be totally and completely accurate, neither I -- nor anyone else I checked with -- was able to identify the origins of the 52% job approval number cited by Trump. (The 90% approval among Republicans is relatively commonplace; Trump is one of the most popular Republican presidents among Republican voters.)
I checked all the normal places first. Rasmussen Reports, a more Republican-friendly pollster which conducts a daily presidential approval tracking, showed Trump at 46% approval through Sunday. The Washington Times, a conservative-leaning outfit, wrote about the new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll on Sunday but that showed Trump's approval at 44%.
Then I looked more broadly, checking out the amazing Real Clear Politics polling database. None of the 10 most recent public polls had Trump's approval at 52% (or above 50%). Nor the 10 before that. Or the 10 before that. Or the 100 before that. (Not kidding; you can see the full list here.)
There are just no recent polls -- not a ONE -- that shows Trump's job approval rating at 52%.
So then I wondered whether Trump had said "approval" but really meant "personal favorables." After all, most people like presidents (and politicians) more personally than think they are doing a good job. It's the whole like-the-guy-but-hate-his-policies thing.
But that well was dry, too. In the NBC-WSJ poll, just 40% said they have a favorable opinion of Trump personally. A Fox News survey had Trump's approval at 41%. The best Trump did in a recent poll on personal approval was 46% in an Economist/YouGov poll conducted earlier this month.
Where of where did Trump get that 52% approval number, then? I have two theories:
1) He made it up totally.
2) He accidentally tweeted his disapproval in the NBC-WSJ poll -- 52% -- as his approval -- and refuses to change it.
If I was a betting man-- I'm not because I am terrible at gambling -- I would choose option two, because if you are going totally make up poll numbers wouldn't you say your approval was like 70%? I also think Trump may have quickly glanced at the TV and seen 52% and just tweeted it because, well, it's too good to check.
(CNN has asked the White House where Trump got that number from, and has not received a response.)
What's remarkable about all of this that Trump's supporters could care less whether he made up a poll number that is more positive for him than any of the other poll numbers currently out there. Facts have become fungible things for some. The response to the reality that there is no poll that currently exists that shows Trump at 52% approval would likely be something along these lines: "Well he'd be way higher than 52% if the Fake news media ever gave him a fair shake!"
Trump himself seems to ascribe to that theory, as explained by Daniel Dale, the Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star:
"For people confused about Donald Trump's claim to have a 52% approval rating: Trump says that whenever you see his approval rating, you have to add 7 points, 8 points, 9 points, or 12 points to it to get the true approval rating."
Which is -- in case you are keeping score at home -- an opinion, not a fact. And one based on a whole lot of assumptions that may or may not be accurate.
This is, of course, not an isolated incident. Donald Trump's willingness to not tell the truth is one of the hallmarks of his 19 months in office, and one of the most corrosive. That Trump can make up poll numbers from whole cloth without his supporters -- or even people less favorably inclined to him -- batting an eye speaks to how much he has already moved the goalposts on acceptable behavior.
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那天看到，好像忘记了贴这个十分具有娱乐性的消息。
(CNN) A former Trump World Tower doorman who says he has knowledge of an alleged affair President Donald Trump had with an ex-housekeeper, which resulted in a child, is now able to talk about a contract he entered with American Media Inc. that had prohibited him from discussing the matter with anyone, according to his attorney.
On Friday, Marc Held -- the attorney for Dino Sajudin, the former doorman -- said his client had been released from his contract with AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, "recently" after back-and-forth discussions with AMI.
CNN has exclusively obtained a copy of the signed "source agreement" between Sajudin and AMI, which is led by David Pecker.
The contract appears to have been signed on Nov. 15, 2015, and states that AMI has exclusive rights to Sajudin's story but does not mention the details of the story itself beyond saying, "Source shall provide AMI with information regarding Donald Trump's illegitimate child..."
The contract states that "AMI will not owe Source any compensation if AMI does not publish the Exclusive..." and the top of the agreement shows that Sajudin could receive a sum of $30,000 "payable upon publication as set forth below."
But the third page of the agreement shows that about a month later, the parties signed an amendment that states that Sajudin would be paid $30,000 within five days of receiving the amendment. It says the "exclusivity period" laid out in the agreement "is extended in perpetuity and shall not expire."
The amendment also establishes a $1 million payment that Sajudin would be responsible for making to AMI "in the event Source breaches this provision."
"Mr. Sajudin has been unable to discuss the circumstances regarding his deal with American Media Inc. and the story that he sold to them, due to a significant financial penalty," Held told CNN. "Just recently, AMI released Mr. Sajudin from the terms of his agreement and he is now able to speak about his personal experience with them, as well as his story, which is now known to be one of the 'catch and kill' pieces. Mr. Sajudin hopes the truth will come out in the very near future."
The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow broke the story in April of how the contract came into existence. Farrow reported that the New Yorker obtained an "unexecuted copy" of the contract. CNN has obtained a copy that was signed by Sajudin.
In April, Sajudin told CNN he claims to have knowledge of a relationship Trump had with his former housekeeper that resulted in a child.
At the time, AMI called Sajudin's story "not credible" and denied any connection between the story and Trump and his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen.
The White House did not respond to CNN's requests for comments in April.
CNN has contacted AMI to clarify whether Sajudin has now been released from the contract to be able to speak on terms of the agreement and to seek reaction on this latest development, but has yet to receive a response.
Sajudin's allegation that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock has not been independently confirmed by any of the outlets that have investigated the story.
Held said he cannot give the exact date the agreement was terminated, per another agreement the attorney made with AMI in order to get his client out of the contract.
Held said that now that Sajudin has been released from the agreement with AMI, he would no longer be liable for a payment for speaking out.
"He's a blue-collar worker and a million dollars would have ruined him for life," Held told CNN.
What the doorman claims to know
When the story surfaced in April, Sajudin told CNN about the alleged relationship in a statement:
"Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President Trump was leaked to the press. I can confirm that while working at Trump World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President Trump's former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump, which produced a child."
The Associated Press reported in April that Cohen "acknowledged to the AP that he had discussed Sajudin's story with the magazine when the tabloid was working on it. He said he was acting as a Trump spokesman when he did so and denied knowing anything beforehand about the Enquirer payment to the ex-doorman."
Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to his work for Trump.
In that deal, he pleaded guilty to paying $130,000 to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to conceal her story of an alleged affair with Trump. He also pleaded guilty to working with AMI to pay off former Playboy model Karen McDougal in a similar "catch and kill" agreement in order to keep her allegations of an affair with Trump from being published. Trump has denied an affair with both women.
Pecker has received immunity in the Cohen case for providing details of the payments to prosecutors, a source confirmed to CNN on Friday.
(CNN) A former Trump World Tower doorman who says he has knowledge of an alleged affair President Donald Trump had with an ex-housekeeper, which resulted in a child, is now able to talk about a contract he entered with American Media Inc. that had prohibited him from discussing the matter with anyone, according to his attorney.
On Friday, Marc Held -- the attorney for Dino Sajudin, the former doorman -- said his client had been released from his contract with AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, "recently" after back-and-forth discussions with AMI.
CNN has exclusively obtained a copy of the signed "source agreement" between Sajudin and AMI, which is led by David Pecker.
The contract appears to have been signed on Nov. 15, 2015, and states that AMI has exclusive rights to Sajudin's story but does not mention the details of the story itself beyond saying, "Source shall provide AMI with information regarding Donald Trump's illegitimate child..."
The contract states that "AMI will not owe Source any compensation if AMI does not publish the Exclusive..." and the top of the agreement shows that Sajudin could receive a sum of $30,000 "payable upon publication as set forth below."
But the third page of the agreement shows that about a month later, the parties signed an amendment that states that Sajudin would be paid $30,000 within five days of receiving the amendment. It says the "exclusivity period" laid out in the agreement "is extended in perpetuity and shall not expire."
The amendment also establishes a $1 million payment that Sajudin would be responsible for making to AMI "in the event Source breaches this provision."
"Mr. Sajudin has been unable to discuss the circumstances regarding his deal with American Media Inc. and the story that he sold to them, due to a significant financial penalty," Held told CNN. "Just recently, AMI released Mr. Sajudin from the terms of his agreement and he is now able to speak about his personal experience with them, as well as his story, which is now known to be one of the 'catch and kill' pieces. Mr. Sajudin hopes the truth will come out in the very near future."
The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow broke the story in April of how the contract came into existence. Farrow reported that the New Yorker obtained an "unexecuted copy" of the contract. CNN has obtained a copy that was signed by Sajudin.
In April, Sajudin told CNN he claims to have knowledge of a relationship Trump had with his former housekeeper that resulted in a child.
At the time, AMI called Sajudin's story "not credible" and denied any connection between the story and Trump and his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen.
The White House did not respond to CNN's requests for comments in April.
CNN has contacted AMI to clarify whether Sajudin has now been released from the contract to be able to speak on terms of the agreement and to seek reaction on this latest development, but has yet to receive a response.
Sajudin's allegation that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock has not been independently confirmed by any of the outlets that have investigated the story.
Held said he cannot give the exact date the agreement was terminated, per another agreement the attorney made with AMI in order to get his client out of the contract.
Held said that now that Sajudin has been released from the agreement with AMI, he would no longer be liable for a payment for speaking out.
"He's a blue-collar worker and a million dollars would have ruined him for life," Held told CNN.
What the doorman claims to know
When the story surfaced in April, Sajudin told CNN about the alleged relationship in a statement:
"Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President Trump was leaked to the press. I can confirm that while working at Trump World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President Trump's former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump, which produced a child."
The Associated Press reported in April that Cohen "acknowledged to the AP that he had discussed Sajudin's story with the magazine when the tabloid was working on it. He said he was acting as a Trump spokesman when he did so and denied knowing anything beforehand about the Enquirer payment to the ex-doorman."
Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of tax fraud, false statements to a bank and campaign finance violations tied to his work for Trump.
In that deal, he pleaded guilty to paying $130,000 to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to conceal her story of an alleged affair with Trump. He also pleaded guilty to working with AMI to pay off former Playboy model Karen McDougal in a similar "catch and kill" agreement in order to keep her allegations of an affair with Trump from being published. Trump has denied an affair with both women.
Pecker has received immunity in the Cohen case for providing details of the payments to prosecutors, a source confirmed to CNN on Friday.
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(CNN) The official spin around the news -- confirmed by President Donald Trump -- that White House counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his post this fall goes something like this: We always expected Don to serve through the first two years of the administration. This is a very stressful job, and Don always said he wouldn't and couldn't stay in the role for the entire first term.
Which is, in part, true. Being the lead attorney in any White House is stressful. Being the lead attorney in the Trump White House is roughly equivalent to my stress level when one of my kids is the first performer at a piano recital.
But, but, but. Context matters -- HUGELY -- here.
And the context is this: We learned 11 days ago that McGahn had sat for interviews with special counsel Robert Mueller's team for more than 30 hours in the course of the investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election. We also learned that Trump himself was unaware that McGahn had spent so much time with Mueller's team, and that the White House more broadly was unaware of what exactly McGahn had told Mueller.
That news "unnerved" Trump, according to CNN reporting. This paragraph, from CNN's report on Trump's reaction to the McGahn news, is prescient and telling:
"The meetings only add complications to the already-fraught relationship between the President and the White House's top lawyer. And as nervous aides await a verdict in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's trial and watch with trepidation the inauspicious public relations blitz carried by lead attorney Rudy Giuliani, uncertainty surrounding the President's handling of the Russia investigation abounds."
While trying to downplay the news, Trump made clear that it irked him. "The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type 'RAT,'" Trump tweeted. "But I allowed him and all others to testify - I didn't have to. I have nothing to hide."
When asked Wednesday whether he was worried about what McGahn told the special counsel, Trump said, "No."
"We do everything straight, we do everything by the book, and Don is an excellent guy," the President said.
Step back even beyond this month -- and think about the role McGahn has played in this White House. According to The New York Times, Trump tried to force McGahn to fire Mueller as special counsel last summer but ultimately backed down when McGahn refused to carry out the order. Trump also ordered McGahn to tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself in the Russia investigation, according to the Times. (Sessions recused himself anyway.) And McGahn was the person that then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates sought out to inform him that Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn was lying about the nature of his contact with Russian officials -- and likely misled Vice President Mike Pence on that matter. (Trump fired Flynn for lying to Pence.)
So. What we know is that a man intimately involved in several of the most high-profile moments in the first 18 months of the Trump White House (and who was a legal adviser to Trump's campaign) is now leaving -- news that broke less than two weeks after the President was caught by surprise by McGahn's level of cooperation with the special counsel.
Or, let's make it even simpler: The man who single-handedly kept Donald Trump from firing Mueller is now leaving the White House, 11 days after the extent of his cooperation with that same special counsel was made public.
There is no such thing as coincidences that big in American politics. Just doesn't happen. McGahn -- and Trump -- knew exactly the sort of signal the announcement that McGahn was leaving would create. The reaction of Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to the news sums up that sentiment nicely: "I hope it's not true McGahn is leaving White House Counsel," Grassley tweeted at Trump. "U can't let that happen."
(It's worth noting that Trump didn't announce the news on Twitter because he wanted to. He did so because Axios reported the news of McGahn's imminent departure early Wednesday morning.)
If McGahn's departure had nothing to do with the ongoing legal and political swirl created by the Mueller probe, he could have easily delayed his departure into the private sector for a few more months -- maybe lasting until after the Mueller report was released. He isn't. That's telling.
Make no mistake: None of this is "going according to plan" for the Trump administration. McGahn's departure takes an already difficult situation for this White House and this President and makes it that much tougher. No spin can change that basic fact.
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WASHINGTON – The guilty plea by Donald Trump's former lawyer to campaign finance violations and other charges raises serious questions about the president's behavior, a majority of Americans say in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll.
Nearly two-thirds say the president should agree to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Those surveyed express significantly higher levels of trust in Mueller's rectitude than in Trump's denials that his campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. The poll of 1,000 registered voters was taken Thursday through Tuesday, after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law and other charges and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of tax evasion and financial crimes.
The findings underscore the perils for the president as the special counsel moves from an investigation that has been conducted largely behind closed doors to one playing out in the drama of the courtroom.
"It's ludicrous that Trump continues to write the tweets that question Mueller's integrity," says Richard Dean, 71, a political independent. The retired engineer from Gadsden, Alabama, was among those called in the poll.
"From everything I've read, they've proven that there were certainly Russian meddling and hacking and hacking attempts, and why Trump won't admit that is ridiculous," Dean says. "In my mind, I suspect and I think they're about to prove that there was certainly collusion."
President Donald Trump has shown his disdain for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Fifty-five percent say they have a lot or some trust in Mueller's investigation to be fair and accurate. Thirty-five percent say they have a lot or some trust in Trump's denials of collusion. The telephone survey has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
Mueller, a longtime Republican who led the FBI under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, was appointed in May 2017 by the Justice Department to lead the Russia inquiry after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump has denied wrongdoing and labeled the inquiry a "witch hunt."
Approval rating slips, but not with party faithful
The president's approval rating edged down to 40 percent, 3 points lower than in the USA TODAY/Suffolk survey taken in June. He retains the approval of a solid 89 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Fifty-six percent overall disapprove of the job he is doing as president.
Gregory Bailey, 58, dispatcher and driver for an auto parts company in Oklahoma City, is among the Republican faithful, calling Mueller "corrupt" and his inquiry "a farce." He echoes some of the arguments Trump has made on Twitter against the investigation. Mueller "only hired Democrats for the investigation," Bailey says. "It doesn't take a year and a half to find something on Russian collusion, and collusion is not even a crime."
Most Americans are prepared to be patient: 55 percent say the special counsel should take all the time he needs to finish the investigation, even if it continues into next year; 40 percent say he should wrap it up within weeks, as Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has argued.
By 63 percent to 27 percent, those polled say Trump should agree to be interviewed by Mueller. That includes nearly a third of Republicans.
Nation split on question of impeachment
The nation is split on whether the House of Representatives should consider impeaching the president, based on what the voters know: 44 percent say yes, 47 percent say no.
"The man stood up in front of the entire world and said to the Russian government, to Putin, that he should look into Hillary Clinton's email," says Bonni Davis, 61, an attorney from New York City who is a Democrat. At a campaign news conference July 27, 2016, Trump encouraged "Russia, if you're listening," to try to find missing Clinton emails; an indictment released last month by the special counsel reported that Russian officials began to target Clinton-related email accounts "on or around" that same day.
In Davis' view, there is enough evidence for Congress to act. "That was beyond disgraceful," she says. "The fact that Russia meddled is beyond question. The fact that Trump supported Putin is beyond question, and that's not appropriate behavior for a president." She calls his actions "a threat to our democracy."
Carol Schmock, 63, a Republican and retired customer service representative from Auberry, California, sees more wrongdoing by former President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Clinton than by Trump, an allegation the president repeatedly has made.
"He hasn't done anything worth impeachment," she says. "He's actually a very good president." She ticks off his initiatives on immigration, North Korea and veterans' affairs. "It's just like he's magic, in a way."
There is, predictably, a sharp partisan divide on the question of impeachment. Even so, 9% of Republicans say the House should consider impeaching the president, and 18% of Democrats say it shouldn't. Among independents, 47% support impeachment; 40% oppose.
Some take a wait-and-see attitude.
"Mueller needs to finish his investigation, and whatever he finds, the public should be made aware and then make the decision from there," says Keith Walker, 59, a political independent and retired educator from Dover, Delaware.
"For me, it would take actually being shown that he did a crime, especially on the Russian part of it," says Melinda Strain, 50, a Democrat from Harrisburg, Missouri. "Morally, I think he's done a bunch of things that are wrong, but they aren't necessarily illegal."
What about the swamp?
Fewer than one in four of those surveyed, 23 percent, say Trump has delivered on his campaign promise to "drain the swamp" in Washington. A 57 percent majority, including nearly one in five Republicans, say "the swamp" has gotten worse during his administration.
The Manafort and Cohen cases reinforce the dyspeptic view of some toward the ethics of Washington in general and the president in particular.
"It's solid evidence of the person he is and the people he's surrounded himself with," says Benjamin Jones, 21, an independent who works in retail sales in Queens, New York. "This is real evidence that he is scandalous."
The turmoil over the Russia investigation may help explain a disparity in Americans' attitudes about the state of the nation. While nearly six in 10 say the economy is in a recovery, only one-third say the country is headed in the right direction.
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President Trump told Evangelical leaders during a closed door dinner at the White House that there will be "violence" if Democrats take control in the November election.
Trump invited Evangelical leaders for a special state dining room event on Monday at the White House and rattled off a list of promises his administration kept for the Christian community. Among them, nominating conservative judges and recent White House commitments to defend religious freedom. But he also talked about what he thinks is at stake in the upcoming 2018 midterms, and said those accomplishments could come under attack "quickly and violently" if Republicans lose.
"You're one election away from losing everything that you've got," Trump told the room.
Trump said if Republicans lose, "they will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently."
"When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people," Trump stated.
Antifa is a group of anti-fascists activists who have protested against white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the Trump administration. President Trump appeared to equate Antifa and white supremacists after fighting in Charlottesville last year that left one woman dead. Trump said there was "blame on both sides."
Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins was a guest at the dinner and confirmed the reported quotes from NBC and the Washington Post from an audio recording to ABC News, but said he interpreted Trump’s comments differently. ABC News did not listen to or obtain an audio recording of the president’s remarks.
"The audio is accurate, but it was selectively released and you have to understand it in the context of the entire evening," Perkins said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Perkins said President Trump returned to the podium after reporters left the room, and "as he does, speaks off the cuff, but reiterated his list of things that have been accomplished."
"I think the people in the room interpreted that all those things that we talked about, we cared about -- that elections have consequences," Perkins said. "I did not take from his comments that based on the outcome of the election there would be violence in the streets or the churches."
"We know the intent, the violence behind the left, because of what we have witnessed from Antifa," Perkins said. "What I interpreted it as him saying is that it’s not a time for complacency."
When asked about his comments about violence potentially breaking out if Republicans lose, Trump said on Wednesday he hopes there "won't be violence."
"There’s a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country and I don’t want to see this," Trump said.
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(CNN) In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, President Donald Trump -- as he so often does -- made some news: He won't be firing much-maligned Attorney General Jeff Sessions before the 2018 midterms.
"I just would love to have him do a great job," Trump told Bloomberg, before pointedly noting that he made no promises about Sessions' fate post-November 6, 2018.
Which means -- in Trump speak -- that Sessions will be fired on or about November 7.
Trump likely thinks that by announcing he won't fire Sessions before the midterm election, he has acceded to the wishes of the bulk of Senate Republicans who a) like Sessions personally (he spent two decades in the Senate prior to serving as AG) and b) don't want to worry about the complications to the likely confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court that an opening for the attorney general spot would cause.
Remember that less than 48 hours ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered Sessions an unquestioning endorsement in the wake of the latest bit of Trump criticism: "I have total confidence in the attorney general," said McConnell. "I think he ought to stay exactly where he is."
"See, Mitch, you said you wanted him to stay where he was -- and he will (until very soon after the election)," you can imagine Trump saying to himself, and maybe even out loud.
And I suppose McConnell will be satisfied -- sort of. By postponing the Sessions firing until after the election, it clears the runway for the likely Kavanaugh confirmation.
But make no mistake: Trump isn't doing Sessions any favors here. He is turning Sessions into a lame duck -- an even lamer duck than Sessions already was, given the fact that Trump has spent most of the last year savaging his AG publicly. And that's a very, very, very lame duck.
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(CNN) President Donald Trump attacked his own Justice Department and FBI leadership and implied Hillary Clinton could face criminal charges during a campaign rally Thursday night in Indiana.
"Our Justice Department and our FBI have to start doing their jobs and doing it right and doing it now, because people are angry. People are angry," Trump said at a rally in Evansville, where he was campaigning for Republican Senate nominee Mike Braun.
Trump also suggested he could take a heavier role in the Justice Department -- comments that came hours after he told Bloomberg that Attorney General Jeff Sessions would remain in his job until after November's midterm elections.
"What's happening is a disgrace, and at some point -- I wanted to stay out, but at some point, if it doesn't straighten out properly -- I want them to do their jobs -- I will get involved," Trump said.
Trump also attacked his 2016 opponent, Clinton.
"Look at what she's getting away with it," Trump said. "But let's see if she gets away with it. Let's see."
The crowd responded with chants of "Lock her up!"
The rally was Trump's second visit to Indiana since the state's May Senate primary to campaign against Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, a senator he dubbed "Sleepin' Joe."
The rally comes hours after a memorial service for Arizona's GOP Sen. John McCain -- a near-constant target in Trump campaign rallies -- whose casket was flown back to Washington as Trump traveled to Indiana.
It also comes the day after the President announced that his White House counsel, Don McGahn, would be departing later this year.
Trump in recent days has also lashed out at the Justice Department and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. And he accused Google of promoting President Barack Obama's speeches to Congress but not his -- a charge Google said is not true.
Republicans are fighting to keep control of the House and Senate in November's elections. In the Senate, the party has a two-seat advantage -- and while its seats in Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee and Texas are in jeopardy, the GOP hopes Trump will carry it in five states he won in 2016 by double digits: Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Braun has attacked Donnelly for voting against Trump's tax package late last year, as well as backing moderate immigration proposals. He has sought to latch Donnelly to more progressive Democrats' positions, such as calls to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
