Jeffrey Blehar writes for National Review Online about the latest evidence of the president’s jarring approach to his job.
On Saturday, Donald Trump publicly threatened Attorney General Pam Bondi on Truth Social in a post that reads for all the world like a private message broadcast in public:
Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” …
… In case you missed that, what you just read there was the president of the United States demanding, for all the world to see, that the attorney general prosecute his personal enemies. In the aftermath of this post, some on Twitter/X half-seriously suggested that the president had accidentally “fat-fingered” his phone and published something meant for private channels. Nah. Presidents do not discuss confidential matters with their attorneys general over Truth Social. He wants the world to see this.
Later that day, Trump resumed his march to reclaim the spotlight by announcing randomly that he wanted Afghanistan’s Taliban to return Bagram Air Base or else . . . what? We would relaunch Operation Enduring Freedom? You be the judge. …
… What does it all add up to? Chaos, by design. Covering the Trump administration in 2025 as a commentator feels a bit like serving as a French medic during World War I, as everyone is urgently trying to refine the proper practice of triage: deciding which stories are important, which ones are ephemeral, and which are truly major. …
… At this point, I am beginning to feel a pang of regret about my coverage of the Trump administration, because it is by necessity guided by the news of the day — and more than ever, Trump can successfully dictate what it is that the media, with their limited manpower and attention span, will talk about at any given moment. Distractions, distractions.
