Some universal truths about Donald Trump that bear repeating (over and over again)

While reading this morning’s crop of news and opinion, it struck me that there are several good examples here of stories that identify universal truths about Trump that are too often left out of the daily coverage.

Here is a (necessarily abbreviated) list of things about Trump that I think are essential context for any story about him. And not just fact-checks or think pieces! Because how can readers possibly be expected to understand what is going on otherwise?

• He lies all the time. See David Nakamura, Washington Post, ‘The story keeps changing’: Trump falsely asserts he never promised Mexico would directly pay for the border wall
• He has no idea what he’s talking about most of the time. See Matthew Iglesias, Vox, Trump’s Hannity interview reveals a president out of touch with reality
• He is acting out of a profound sense of personal terror – of Mueller, of Ann Coulter, of losing the Senate Republicans. See Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, Trump is terrified of the far-right echo chamber
• He is constantly projecting. See CNN, Trump says China is ‘more honorable than Chuck and Nancy‘
• There is no “White House”. See USA Today, U.S. starts withdrawing from Syria amid policy confusion
• He is only playing to his base, nobody and nothing else matters anymore. See CNN’s Fareed Zakaria explains why Trump’s border wall standoff is really about avoiding impeachment
• He is exploiting (and exposing!) how the U.S. presidency has too much unchecked power. See Washington Post editorial board, Congress gave the president too many powers. Now it must scale them back.