Question: Where do you think we will actually land with a border wall? Is it all for show to appease the base? How much does he really care about it?
The border wall appears to be nothing more than red-meat for the base. He actually is passionate about what he sees as border security, but he also knows that there's absolutely no way that Congress is going to appropriate the funds for the construction. Everything that I'm hearing suggests that he is not prepared to shut down the government over the funding argument. Priebus kind of backed away from the actual physical wall concept on the Sunday shows, instead highlighting 'border security'. POTUS absolutely *wanted* to build a wall, if for no other reason than to keep a campaign promise, but as he realizes that it's not realistic, his view has shifted to using Congress as the scapegoat.
Question: Does Trump communicate more clearly in private than he does in public?
He is clearly more comfortable in private, but the communication is similar. Just more cursing. He is just as obsessed with wins and ratings in private.
Question: How are decisions actually made in the WH? Why so many flip flops and walk-backs? What are the REAL policies, or is it as fickle as it seems?
As Bannon's influence wanes, there is actually a policy-centric approach that is developing, especially on foreign policy. McMaster seems to have a really solid grasp on the NSC and POTUS is increasingly listening to him and Mattis, which is great for the country because he (POTUS) has exactly zero foreign policy experience... or much of an opinion beyond talking points, honestly. As far as domestic policy, what you see is pretty much what you get. Both travel bans and health care were both completely done with a 'fly by the seat of your pants' mentality. His immediate team is constantly scrambling around to try and keep up with what the boss wants at any given time of the day. Example: when he announced that they were going to be doing health care as well as funding the government this week, everyone was completely shocked. The original agreement was that funding government was priority and that the health care vote would tentatively be scheduled for next week (you know... seeing as they don't actually have a bill yet). Then POTUS had an, "oooh.. shiny!" moment and left everyone trying to figure out how to cram both into the same week. You're seeing them walk that back a little bit now, but the message is clear: POTUS wants wins before 100 day mark.
Question: Russiagate
I am actually working on a whole post for Russiagate - there's so much to cover that I want to make sure that I have enough space to do it. Suffice to say, Russiagate is NOT going away any time soon. Comey (FBI) and Rogers (NSA) are both testifying in another closed session of the House Intel Committee soon and Sally Yates, John Brennan, and James Clapper are going to be testifying in an open session that is tentatively scheduled for May 2nd. There's been a quiet push to try to move the Yates / Brennan / Clapper hearing to closed session, but Mike Conaway and Adam Schiff aren't having it. This is another reason that I feel like military action in North Korea is increasingly likely - the administration enjoyed the positive coverage that it received in the wake of the cruise missile strike in Syria. They don't seem to realize that dragging the country into a protracted ground war on the Korean peninsula isn't going to garner the same positive ratings.
Keep the questions coming, folks. I'll answer what I can on Twitter and I'll continue to update this page with the longer responses.
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