After Controversy Over Condolence Calls, Can Trump And The White House Refocus?
When backed into a corner, President Trump digs in and fights back.
It's what he's done as president, it's what he did as a candidate and it's what he did as a businessman.
Just go listen to NPR's Embedded podcast and a recent episode about Trump's fight with Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., over things as petty as a flagpole at his golf course, putting hedges in front of houses he thought were ugly and the name of a road. He wanted his name on it.
He had been greeted as something of a conquering hero in that town. But the relationship soured after lawsuits and threats. So much so that the Republican town that voted for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 went for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
"I think the president has a bad habit when he's asked a question that he is uncomfortable with or can't quite come up with the right answer — he usually tries to reach out for scapegoats," Leon Panetta, former defense secretary under President Obama and chief of staff to Bill Clinton, told NPR's All Things Considered, "and the first scapegoat this president seems to always turn to is President Obama.
"And when he talked about him not making calls that was a terrible mistake. And what bothers me is that it detracts from the main focus here, and the main focus has to be on the brave and courageous individuals that are willing to go out there and fight and die for America, and their families. There is some comfort here for all of this dispute, that maybe America again will take the time to remember that there are young men and women in uniform that are fighting and dying for this country. That's something sometimes we tend to forget."
Part of the problem for Americans is the disconnect Panetta highlights between the military and the rest of society. In 1945, just before the end of World War II, there were 12 million active servicemembers. Now, there are just over a million or so.
It's actually less than 1 percent. That number in 1945 represented roughly 9 percent of the country's total population. Now, the number of active-duty servicemembers is only about 0.4 percent of the population.
"Most of you, as Americans, don't know them," Kelly continued. "Many of you don't know anyone that knows any one of them."
Americans are far less engaged in the debate over worldwide American missions than they likely would be if they had a daughter or son or neighbor in the fight. That has to have an effect on American society and policymaking.
Trump will look to highlight that sacrifice at a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House Monday. He will honor retired Army Captain Gary M. Rose, who was a medic during Vietnam and saved a helicopter full of soldiers after it was shot down.
But there are questions as to whether Trump can move on and keep his focus on where staff like Kelly would like it to be.
Trump, for example, has shown no signs of wanting to move on from the fight with a Democratic congresswoman. Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida revealed details of a conversation Trump had with a widow of one of the soldiers killed in Niger.
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