Trump and the Disunited States of America (ongoing entry)

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• James Fallows, The Atlantic (August 23): "[W]ith every day that passes without their doing something about it, the stain and responsibility for Trump’s ungoverned tone stick more lastingly to the Republican establishment that keeps looking the other way as he debases his office and divides his country."

• Michael D'Antonio, CNN (August 23): "Although Reckless Trump often sabotages his own agenda, he causes the greatest damage when he indulges himself on an issue that is vital to both public safety and national unity."

• Philip Rucker, "Trump’s whiplash: Three personas in three speeches," Washington Post (August 23): "In the span of 48 hours this week, President Trump has boomeranged among three roles: the commander in chief, the divider and the uniter. ... Trump jetted to Phoenix, where the immigration inferno he has helped ignite burns nearly as hot as the broiling sun. ... Speaking from the heart, he served up one 'us' vs. 'them' riff after another. ... By Wednesday, with television news commentators devouring his Phoenix free-for-all, Trump swooped into Reno, Nev., with the kind of unity message that you would expect to hear Pope Francis deliver. 'It is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us,' Trump said, again reading from a teleprompter, at the national convention of the American Legion."

• Mark Landler, "Different Day, Different Audience, and a Completely Different Trump, New York Times (August 23): “We are here to hold you up as an example of strength, courage and resolve that our country will need to overcome the many challenges that we face,” the president said, speaking slowly and gravely as he read from a teleprompter. “We are here to draw inspiration from you as we seek to renew the bonds of loyalty that bind us together as one people and one nation.”

• Michael Gerson,"Trump’s rhetorical schizophrenia is easy to see through," Washington Post (August 24) "And so, on one day, we had an unhinged and divisive rant by President Trump in Phoenix. Then, the next day in Reno, Nev., a call for national unity and reconciliation. Multiple political personality disorder. Rhetorical schizophrenia. ... The real voice again widening racial divisions by defending Confederate monuments as 'our history and our heritage.' ... The unified control of House, Senate and presidency means little when the president lives in a reality of his own."

• Dan Balz, "Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter," Washington Post (August 26): President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That’s one obvious message from Friday’s decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump has been a divisive force from the very start of his campaign for president, a proud disrupter of the political status quo. ... What was perhaps unexpected was the timing of the pardon. For starters, it came only days after the president had delivered a speech about national unity before the American Legion in Reno, Nev."

• David Brooks, "How Trump Kills the G.O.P," New York Times, (August 29): "It may someday be possible to reduce the influence of white identity politics, but probably not while Trump is in office. As long as he is in power the G.O.P. is a house viciously divided against itself, and cannot stand."

• Editorial, New York Times (August 29): "This is Donald Trump’s rule of law — a display of personal dominance disconnected from concerns about law and order, equality or the Constitution. That distorted understanding of justice is cleaving the nation between the majority who support the principles of American democracy and those who support only him."

• Stephen Dinan and S.A. Miller, "Trump shuns Republican leaders to cut debt deal with Schumer, Pelosi," Washington Times (September 7): "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said Mr. Trump can explain the deal for himself. He added that the president appeared to want to find unity at a time of multiple crisis points, including the country’s fiscal situation and natural disasters."