Column: Donald Trump's presidency is collapsing

Column: Donald Trump's presidency is collapsing
by Rex Huppke Contact Reporter


We’re only one year into Trump’s presidency, and we’re already witnessing its entirely predictable collapse.

Consider the news swirling about on Thursday:

The phrase “pee tape” was trending on Twitter, thanks to excerpts from former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming book describing Trump’s obsession with one of the more lurid claims in the controversial dossier compiled by a British spy. We don’t know if there’s actually a video recording of Trump watching Russian prostitutes urinate on a bed in a Moscow hotel room. But we know it’s at least a possibility, and that’s not good for a president.

Comey’s book also describes Trump as an unhinged narcissist and compares his behavior to that of a mob boss. At the end of the day, who you believe will depend on who you trust, Comey or Trump. Given all that Trump has shown us about who he is and how he behaves, I’m guessing the Vegas line on who will win the most trust leans heavily in Comey’s favor.

Two news outlets — the New Yorker and the Associated Press — reported on another suspicious payoff during the presidential campaign, this one to a doorman at one of Trump’s New York City buildings. The doorman reportedly claimed that Trump had fathered a child with an employee and was paid $30,000 by the company that owns the National Enquirer to keep the rumor to himself. There’s no proof the rumor is true, but the issue is the hush money and what appears to be furious attempts to insulate Trump from past dalliances during the campaign. Already we know about a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels from Trump’s personal attorney and a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy Playmate from the National Enquirer’s parent company. Does anyone who is even remotely tethered to reality think we won’t learn of more?

There were reports that Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, was known to secretly record telephone conversations. So the concern in Trump’s circle is that the recent FBI raids on Cohen’s home and office might have turned up recordings that could make the president look bad. That’s not good! Cohen, an argumentative, ornery lawyer, has also taken an oddly polite tone regarding federal investigators, raising questions as to how much trouble he might be in and how much it would take for him to flip on the president.

That’s just Thursday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-met-trump-comey-pee-tape-huppke-20180412-story.html