The Never-Ending Blame Game - Trump's focus on critiquing his predecessor could hurt him in the end.

The Never-Ending Blame Game

President Trump's focus on critiquing his predecessor could hurt him in the end.

By Kenneth T. Walsh | Contributor
April 28, 2017, at 6:00 a.m.

President Donald Trump is indulging in a favorite pastime that has become an unhealthy preoccupation – blaming his predecessor Barack Obama for what ails the country and for exacerbating problems that Trump has been unable to solve so far.

This week, Obama had a chance to respond but he graciously remained above the fray. The former Democratic president spoke Monday as the media were focusing on Trump's record during his crucial first 100 days in office. But in an address to students at the University of Chicago, Obama didn't mention Trump's name and instead focused more generally on "special interests" that "dominate the debates in Washington." Obama went on to urge young people to participate in public life and fight for causes they believe in.

This has been Obama's pattern since the election – largely staying mum on how his successor is doing. His sharpest comments came weeks ago when Obama denied through a spokesman that he had ordered wiretaps of Trump at his penthouse in New York during the campaign, which Trump had alleged without citing any evidence. Since then, Obama hasn't gotten into public spats with Trump despite the incumbent's regularly expressed hostility toward Obama and his policies.

This is unfortunate because former presidents have a lot to offer their successors. But the anti-Obama drumbeat from Trumpworld never ceases. On Wednesday, Trump condemned Obama for abuse of power because his predecessor declared large tracts of federal land off limits to development under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Other presidents have used the same law to protect federal land, but Trump aides say he is particularly upset that Obama locked up more than a million acres at the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah over the objections of local and state officials.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blamed Obama for the furor over Michael Flynn, the former White House national security adviser whom Trump fired shortly after giving Flynn the job. Spicer said the Obama administration had cleared Flynn for service in a different intelligence job in 2012 (Obama forced Flynn's resignation two years later) and Flynn renewed his clearance in 2016. Spicer argued that the Trump White House had no obligation to clear Flynn again in January 2017 when he took over as national security adviser. Flynn is under investigation because of his alleged ties to foreign governments, including Russia.

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