Is This The Presidency That President Trump Wants?

U.S. President Donald Trump sits for an exclusive interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Nancy Cook, Politico: An unshackled Trump finally gets the presidency he always wanted

No longer hemmed in by aides, Trump has bent the presidency into the mold of the Trump Organization.

The China trade war, talks with the Taliban, the response to Iran after Saudi attacks, gun control, new tax legislation and a long list of other policy issues are up in the air and awaiting decisions from President Donald Trump — and him alone — heading into the 2020 election season.

In many ways, it’s the presidency Trump has always wanted.

He’s at the center of the action. He’s fully in command. And he’s keeping world leaders on edge and unsure of his next moves, all without being hemmed in by aides or the traditional strictures of a White House.

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WNU Editor: When he was elected he found himself in Washington without the Republican establishment behind him, and with many actively going against him. There were also many who felt that he would not last, and being tied with him would impact their own careers and future. As a result he had to pick people literally on the fly and/or on the recommendations of others. Those people are mostly gone now (no surprises there), and he has had the time to pick people that he felt comfortable with and who would follow his policies and directions. Will this last, I am not sure. But he has gotten even the New York Times speculating if he thinks that he is now invincible .... Trump’s Ukraine call reveals a president convinced of his own invincibility (New York Times).