Last week, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump and his top immigration advisor Stephen Miller twice floated dumping migrants into sanctuary cities as a way to retaliate against Democrats.
Trump called the story "fake" on Saturday and then reversed course, claiming he has the "absolute right" to do whatever he wants (he does not).
The New York Times Sanctuary Cities/Immigration story today was knowingly wrong on almost every fact. They never ca… https://t.co/yTiyKAgJEv— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555198241.0
Just out: The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Citi… https://t.co/SpzUmcPCV6— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555206445.0
Over the weekend we learned that Trump's proposal to has morphed into a ploy to distract from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, which the Justice Department expects to release to the public on Thursday.
Trump, who has said he does not "care about the Mueller report" and that it is a "total and complete exoneration" (it is not), is reportedly feeling "emboldened" ahead of Attorney General William Barr's anticipated redacted version of Mueller's work.
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times reported on Sunday:
"Barr’s letter effectively emboldened Mr. Trump, aides said, even as they prepare for new details to emerge from a redacted version of the report — expected this week — that could renew questions about the president’s fitness for office, and even as some of them cringe at Mr. Trump’s choice of the word 'exonerate.' (Privately, they admit, they would prefer he use the word 'vindicate.')"
"Trump is purposefully escalating his language, people who know him said, expressly to enliven his base of supporters and to enrage his political rivals and the news media. He has revived an idea that his administration rejected — sending immigrant detainees to so-called sanctuary cities — in part, people close to him said, to distract from the report."'
On Monday, Trump proclaimed on Twitter that "illegal immigrants... will be, subject to Homeland Security, given to sanctuary cities and states." DHS has been without leadership since Kirstjen Nielsen resigned as secretary last week.
Those Illegal Immigrants who can no longer be legally held (Congress must fix the laws and loopholes) will be, subj… https://t.co/xGxp17T5Dy— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555344321.0
The distraction machine is operating at full capacity.
@ericuman "Release into sanctuary cities." The "9/11- Rep. Omar" video. "I don't know Wikileaks." "Be rougher on th… https://t.co/6c8T14c6qa— G.deGuzman (@G.deGuzman) 1555288631.0
@ericuman Everything’s a different distraction from something else, that’s how liars roll.— Michael (@Michael) 1555287044.0
@ericuman @mindyfinn https://t.co/TaIZ3BXver— Sideline_Observer (@Sideline_Observer) 1555326930.0
@ericuman His plan to distract everyone from his terrible behavior by doing something else terrible seems... unlike… https://t.co/K6tfzC7lIL— Natalie “long name, short tweets” Wyatt-Brown (@Natalie “long name, short tweets” Wyatt-Brown) 1555333002.0
@ericuman But why would he want to distract from a report that he claims completely exonerates him?— InsideJoke (@InsideJoke) 1555333352.0
Why could that be? Trump's tweets Monday morning speak volumes.
He has again assailed Mueller's investigation and Congressional Democrats five times and it is still not even noon.
Mueller, and the A.G. based on Mueller findings (and great intelligence), have already ruled No Collusion, No Obstr… https://t.co/x7HBiAPMmr— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555326928.0
THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN (We will never forget)!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555336365.0
The Radical Left Democrats will never be satisfied with anything we give them. They will always Resist and Obstruct!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555337758.0
The Mueller Report, which was written by 18 Angry Democrats who also happen to be Trump Haters (and Clinton Support… https://t.co/gDIQBA33Iq— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1555345261.0
Trump is in panic mode.
@thehill I'm beginning to think he is not exonerated by it.— hmmm889 (@hmmm889) 1555291304.0
@realDonaldTrump for a guy who has been COMPLETELY EXONERATED, you seem pretty rattled that the heavily-redacted re… https://t.co/uxIdDKe22F— Jeff Tiedrich (@Jeff Tiedrich) 1555345478.0
@realDonaldTrump We are looking forward to Thursday.— Jeffrey Guterman (@Jeffrey Guterman) 1555345289.0
@realDonaldTrump Nervous much??? Mueller report to be released this Thursday!— Angela Belcamino (@Angela Belcamino) 1555345336.0
@realDonaldTrump Someone is scared for Thursday— Jake Dabkowski (@Jake Dabkowski) 1555345302.0
Ask yourself: this how an exonerated person acts?