Corker: Trump’s Behavior Appears to Be ‘Devolving’

“I’ve seen no evolution in an upward way. As a matter of fact, I would say, it appears to me it’s almost devolving. … You would think he would aspire to be the president of the United States and act like a president of the United States. But, you know, that’s just not going to be the case apparently.”

— Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) saying that he does not believe President Trump’s behavior has improved since he took office in January, The Hill reports.

Noonan: Trump Is a ‘Drama Queen’

“The president’s primary problem as a leader is not that he is impetuous, brash or naive. It’s not that he is inexperienced, crude, an outsider. It is that he is weak and sniveling. It is that he undermines himself almost daily by ignoring traditional norms and forms of American masculinity. … He’s not strong and self-controlled, not cool and tough, not low-key and determined; he’s whiny, weepy and self-pitying. He throws himself, sobbing, on the body politic. He’s a drama queen.”

Peggy Noonan

Australian PM Mock Trump

“It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever. The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much. We are winning like we have never won before.”

— Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in a leaked recording mocking President Trump, “the latest awkward episode between two allied leaders whose relationship had gotten off to a rocky start,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Trump Combo: Ignorance and Certitude

In manner and execution, and in his almost touching desire to be liked, Trump comes across not as larger than life but as one of the smaller people on the world stage. He always had a sort of oafish charisma: as we used to say at Spy, a hustler on his best behavior. In small groups, as many can attest, he has mastered the salesman’s trick of creating faux sincerity and intimacy when answering a question by including the first name of the person who asked it. … But no amount of grifter charm can conceal his alarming disregard for facts and truth. It’s this combination of utter ignorance and complete certitude that his detractors find most terrifying.

Graydon Carter