April 05, 2018 08:29 AM UTC

Do Trump's Words Really Matter?

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: The Washington Post has more on this angle of rhetoric vs. reality:

An emboldened President Trump is discovering that the policies he once described as easy fixes for the nation are a lot more complicated in reality — creating backlash among allies, frustrating supporters and threatening the pocketbooks of many farming communities that helped get him elected.

Freed from the caution of former advisers, Trump has spent recent weeks returning to the gut-level basics that got him elected: tough talk on China, a promise of an immigration crackdown and an isolationist approach to national security.

Of more concern, perhaps, is that Trump is increasingly pushing forward on his own:

Trump has cut senior advisers, including Kelly, out of some personnel and policy moves, such as the recent hirings of top economic adviser Larry Kudlow and national security adviser John Bolton. A senior White House official said neither of the men had been vetted before their selections were announced.

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President Trump says a lot of stuff. He ad-libs about everything from Syria and China to border security and economic policies.

Last night, Anderson Cooper of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360”  hosted an interesting segment about what happens in the White House when Trump veers off-script, and the mad scramble to come up with policies to fit Trump’s moody rhetoric:

Keeping Them Honest: The President speaks then the White House plays clean up https://t.co/SAB7fiiUyl pic.twitter.com/wPGWeYlNYi

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 5, 2018