The president will never entirely convince his political foes that he is not either a would-be dictator or Putin’s stooge. But if he is as smart as he thinks he is, he will treat this early setback as a warning of the dangers of a poorly managed White House and National Security staff rather than just more fodder for his complaints about being treated unfairly.  And Trump isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

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On one side you have a left wing activist media pursuing an agenda to take down the Trump presidency. On the other you have right wing media that is almost entirely sold out to Trump, and salivating over the chance to land some body blows on the left wing media. Both sides are entrenched and are colluding with their elected counterparts. The left versus right debate is like a gorilla and a bunch of chimpanzees flinging crap at each other.