Trump's uncontrollable tweeting triggers deeper anxiety among advisersBy Sunday, he had already claimed Michael Flynn was fired in part for lying to the FBI and had moved on to accusing the nation’s top law-enforcement agency of being 'in tatters.'
By ANDREW RESTUCCIA
12/03/2017 05:35 PM EST
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In New York this weekend, where the president headlined three fundraisers, Trump’s tweets were a frequent topic of conversation, with some donors privately raising concerns that the investigation could shift attention from tax reform, according to donors close to the administration.
“As a Trump supporter, I think that the president tweeting about Mueller’s investigation absolutely distracts his administration and the public from the mission at hand, which is to get tax reform done before the end of the year,” said Houston-based energy executive Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor. “His tweeting certainly shows he isn’t listening to the advice of counsel, which must be telling him to say nothing publicly or privately.”
Senior White House officials, taking their cues from chief of staff John Kelly, insist that they can’t — and won’t — control what the president does on social media. Asked last week what he does when Trump unleashes provocative tweets, one senior White House official said simply, “Ignore them.”
Another senior administration official said efforts to exert control over Trump's tweeting were a "lost cause," adding that aides have also had little success limiting the president's TV-watching habit. "TV is what it is," the official said.
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Peter Zeidenberg, who served on the Justice Department’s special prosecution team during the George W. Bush-era Valerie Plame investigation, said Trump’s tweets and public statements “are extremely damaging to him and helpful to Mueller’s team.”
“The toughest thing in bringing an obstruction case is proving the state of mind of the defendant,” Zeidenberg said. “Trump is making their job easy.”
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