Fabricated National Emergency

When President Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, it revealed another emergency for the president much closer to home, his own. It's a political emergency and one of his own making. Mr. Trump has united Democrats against him, divided Republicans and set up a court battle even he suggests he could lose. Mr. Trump even seemed to admit that the emergency is more about protecting his base than stopping illegal immigration, when he said he didn't need to declare an emergency. He just wants it to build his wall faster.

At the same time, our two political parties are facing national emergencies of their own. You have a Democratic Party that outpolled republicans in six of the last seven presidential elections by winning back centrist voters. It now finds itself, though, challenged by an emerging progressive wing that is eager to push the party sharply to the left. And a Republican Party, once defined by free trade, strict constitutional principles, and at least the appearance of caring about the national debt, has now tethered itself to a president who mocks all of those traditional conservative norms. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has tethered himself to his base, which he sees as critical to any reelection chances.

But what is emerging is a picture of a president who refuses to even lead his base and, instead, is admitting he's being led by it.

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February 17, 2019