Donald Trump firing Sally Yates isn’t the big story. How he did it is.

By Chris Cillizza

January 31 at 9:38 AM

Sally Yates had to know that when she refused to enforce President Trump's travel ban on Monday, she was effectively resigning her post as acting attorney general. After all, she was already a short-timer, a holdover from the Obama administration in place solely to bridge the time until Trump's attorney general nominee — Jeff Sessions — is confirmed later this week.

All the hubbub then about Trump's decision to dismiss Yates on Monday night kind of misses the point. It's not that Yates was dismissed that's important and telling. It's how she was dismissed that matters. ... First of all, Yates was informed of her dismissal two minutes before the statement announcing it was sent to reporters. That's not exactly a long lead time, although, as I note above, she had to expect the firing since the second she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to enforce the travel ban. ... The real key here is the White House's statement. And what a statement it was. ... Here it is:



Where to start? ... How about “betrayed” as the word choice for Yates's refusal to enforce the travel ban? There's no question that Trump was well within his rights to jettison Yates. But, to describe what she did as a “betrayal,” considering that she spent nearly three decades serving in the Justice Department, feels like unnecessarily incendiary language. ... But the Trump White House was just getting started.
....

What Trump's statement, viewed broadly, teaches us — or, maybe, reteaches us — is that this president sees only two kinds of people in the world: loyal friends and disloyal, terrible enemies. Principled — or occasional — opposition is not part of that equation. You are either all the way for him or all the way against him. Black and white. No room for gray. ... For those whom he perceives as being against him, Trump is entirely unafraid to go after them personally. The moment you cross from supportive of his interests to, well, not, is the moment you die to him. He will not just burn bridges with those he believes have betrayed him. He will napalm those bridges. ... The Yates firing is yet another example of how Trump is fundamentally different from the many people who have preceded him as president. Niceties mean nothing. The world is a tough place. If you don't hit, you are going to be the one getting hit. And Trump will always make sure he throws some punches.

Chris Cillizza writes “The Fix,” a politics blog for The Washington Post, and hosts the Ciquizza podcast, a weekly news quiz {Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher}. Follow @thefix