Definition of a bad day at the Trump White House: when growing questions about anunpopular wararen't the worst news you're facing.
President Donald Trumpon March 6 found himself dealing not only with an intensifying U.S. assault on Iran but also a decline in jobs, a rise in gas prices and unverified allegations of sexual misconduct from the release ofmore Jeffrey Epstein files.
It was a reminder that even presidents with the most expansive ambitions can't control their agenda, at least not all of it. Some saw signs of a "second-term" curse,when overreach has sometimes undermined presidents, including those with rosy first terms.
Trump chose the timing of theweek-old waragainst Tehran, one that has expanded into NATO and the Persian Gulf states. But the calendar determined the Labor Department's release of theFebruary employment reportthat showed the unexpected loss of 92,000 jobs. Gas prices, for many Americans a thermometer of economic well-being,jumped to a national averageof $3.32, reflecting oil shocks from the war.
That price set a record high for Trump's two terms as president, and it came just the week after he had bragged in hisState of the Unionaddress that low gas prices were proof that "inflation is plummeting" under his leadership.
"I don't have any concern about it,"Trump told Reuters. "They'll drop very rapidly when this is over."
Then there's thedelayed releaseby the Department of Justice of more files from the investigation into disgraced financier and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. They included accounts of FBI interviews with a woman who said that as a teenager she wasabused by Epstein and Trump. The accusations are unverified, and Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump is famouslycomfortable with chaos. Still, what's a president to do?
He suggested putting another ball in the air.
"Cuba is going to fall pretty soon," he toldCNN's Dana Bashin a morning phone interview. "I'm going to put Marco over there and we'll see how that works out."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio already has a lot on his plate, of course.
Presidents at their peril focus on foreign adventures, or anything else, at the expense of the kitchen-table economy.
Ask George H.W. Bush, who after a quick and triumphant victory in the first Gulf War was defeated for reelection by challenger Bill Clinton, who promised to focus "like a laser" on Americans' economic struggles.
The Trump administration blamed the disappointing jobs report on strikes, bad weather and former PresidentJoe Biden.
"There are several positive signs for our economy that continue to show American workers are recovering from the mess left behind by Biden," Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. That said, the 46th president left office more than a year ago.
