Trump's Strataegy of Divide and Rule

Does Donald Trump have a strategy as president, or is he a loose cannon? His approval rating among Americans is the lowest of any chief executive this early in his presidency, with only 44% approving and 53% disapproving of his performance in a CNN/ORC survey. Trump is the only chief executive underwater in the polls in his first month since such polls began, which go all the way back to Eisenhower. So, is he blowing it big time?

No, his actions are, I believe, intentional and politically calculated. Trump is 90% popular with Republicans, the survey showed. That's what he's after. If, for example, his executive order banning anyone from entering the country from seven Muslim nations continues to get shot down by the courts, this will serve only to rile up his Republican base all the more. This is also why political strategist Steve Bannon was appointed to a permanent position on the National Security Council (NSC) while the Chairman of the Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence were removed from the list of NSC principals. Another gambit is talk of ending the separation of church and state mandated by the Bill of Rights. Every move he is making is for political effect; the national interest is virtually irrelevant. Trump, Bannon, Kellyann Conway and the entire team will continue to do all they can to gin up reactionaries including the GOP base. They are willing to risk also activating the liberals, which they certainly are doing as well. My appearance at the Pacific Beach Democratic Club in San Diego last night showed me just how incensed and energized liberals are to oppose the Trump agenda. Trump's calculation is that red meat to the right will beat the effect of red meat to the left. To oppositely paraphrase Bush 43, DJT is a divider, not a uniter, and by design. We'll see if or how long this works, and whether the nation can maintain its cohesion in the interim.