October 11, 2017

An AP White House reporter tells MSNBC that the only topic Trump is truly focused on is his "feud with the NFL."

The Washington Post describes Trump's 'pressure cooker" of frustrations which cause him to lash out at those around him and are jeopardizing his agenda, MSNBC hosted a panel discussion around Trump's mood's that seem to govern him.

Time Magazine's former editor, Richard Stengel wondered if it was constructive to constantly cover these topics, but Philip Rucker explained, "This is a president who governs by impulse, he governs by his mood and so what his mood is on a given day or week is really important to understanding how this government's run and understanding the policy decisions he makes."

"[Trump] makes decisions based on who's got his ear, who told him what piece of information and how he's feeling on that day and that's why we focus so many reporting resources on understanding his mindset and what information he's getting in front of him," Rucker said.

Host Nicolle Wallace said Trump doesn't bring in policy experts to help him understand the issues before him, "Other than his moods what do you think drives his policy decisions?"

Stengel agreed, "He doesn't have policies he has moods, he doesn't have ideas, he has feelings."

But still felt reporters shouldn't be only focused on covering those moods.

I believe reporters are covering the issues as well, but Trump's unhinged behavior does take up a lot of oxygen and at times overrides issues.

AP's Jonathan Lemire explains from multiple sources that there's one issue that Trump's mind is obsessed with except for one. Can you guess?

Lemire said, "I think it's really important to keep it in context. There are some significant foreign policy crises this nation is dealing with right now. The North Korean nuclear program, we have a decision that's going to be made in days about the Iran deal. That's the context we have to keep in mind."

He continued, "That's something that really does matter, that he's mad that the Secretary of State called him a moron. That he's suggesting that we should have I.Q. tests, -- but we also know that those aren't his priorities, resources have told us, people close to Trump for weeks that the number one thing he's talking about, the number one thing he remains obsessed with remains the NFL feud."

"The idea of the flag, something he has personalized. That he believes when they take a knee, they're taking a knee against him. That's something he can't wait to re-litigate day after day."

To hell with North Korea, the military, the four U.S. soldiers that were killed in Africa, the Iran nuclear deal, rolling back Obama's Clean Power Plan, everything hinges around the media and how he views himself in it.

Since Trump believes more Americans are on his side over the NFL feud he created, he's all in and that rules his brain. There isn't room for anything else.

Let's hope he doesn't take a call from Seb Gorka, who tells him to let the bombs fly on North Korea.

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