Trump flails wildly as he faces 'existential political crisis' over immigration and the border

Donald Trump has been posturing about immigration and the border since day one of his campaign, so a 12-year high in border apprehensions after two years of Trump being in power means it’s panic time at the White House. That’s led to Trump’s threats to close the border and cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. It’s led to his purge of the top ranks of the Department of Homeland Security. And the panic isn’t letting up.

What we’re seeing, reports the Washington Post, is that “a president who has routinely blamed spiking immigration numbers on others … is now coming to the realization that the problems are closer to home.” And while “it is unlikely that Trump will blame himself”—as the parade of fired aides makes clear—Trump “is facing an existential political crisis ahead of his 2020 reelection bid over the prospect of failure on his top domestic priority.”

Trump being Trump—and advised by Stephen Miller—his response is to push for crueler policies based on less respect for the law and democratic institutions. Combined with Trump’s disregard for law on releasing his tax returns, his administration’s cover-up of the results of the Mueller investigation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s court-packing, this pushes the country deeper and deeper into constitutional crisis.