The Atlantic

The Self-Pitying President

After an avalanche of bad news, including the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign’s ties to Russia, Trump complaints of a “witch hunt” and the worst treatment in political history.
Source: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

When news that the Justice Department had appointed Robert Mueller as a special counsel landed last night, the White House was reportedly as surprised as everyone else. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had only informed the president’s staff once the order was signed.

Nonetheless, President Trump took the news in stride, aides anonymously told Politico and ABC News, insisting that he was “measured” and even “extremely measured.”

Whether that was true or simply spin, it didn’t last. Thursday morning, the president broke an unusually long Twitter silence to complain about how he had

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