Trump’s kitchen is getting hotter

Chief strategist Steve Bannon is out, and he says he’s got his hands back on his weapons at his alt-right media conglomerate. He has already dispatched his staff to pull out their keyboards and blast at the president for his new Afghanistan plan, which contradicts Bannon’s hard-line nationalist approach to foreign policy.

Perhaps Bannon’s removal has helped curb the fallout from the president’s controversial remarks following the Charlottesville tragedy, but he’s still got a litany of domestic issues to deal with, including his fractured relationship with Congress and ongoing rift with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Meanwhile, on the international stage, the president has both his new, more aggressive Afghan policy and the prospect of nuclear warfare to think about. Kim Jong Un is unlikely to leave America alone and take his intercontinental ballistic missiles and bad haircut to a different party, as he seems determined to dump his weapons into the oceans in our periphery until we react more definitively. With China coming on board to help us attempt to quiet the attacks and protect our allies, the dynamics of our relationship are much bigger than a currency manipulation issue at this point.

There will be a lot of very important decisions made in the next three years, and – barring some intervening event – Donald Trump is the man who will be making them. The stakes are high, and they’re getting higher.

The temperature is hot in Trump’s kitchen, and it’s getting hotter.

As the heat rises, we will track his approval rating closely as a means of predicting the outcome of next year’s midterm elections. Absent some major, redefining event, it’s unlikely that he’ll move the needle much.

To use a baseball analogy, the Trump presidency is probably going to hang below the Mendoza Line – absent a home run or two. And there is a big problem for Trump when it comes to home runs: He can’t control the pitches. But he sure needs some good ones now.

Trump has shown that he is capable of leading with strength on the international stage. These are the pitches he needs. His new, recycled Afghan policy is not likely to net him any new voters. If Bannon’s predictions are correct, it will actually cost him more support in some of the Rust Belt states that carried his presidency, as these states contribute many of the soldiers who will be risking their lives to support Trump’s new foreign agenda. These pitches will have to come from North Korea or a different foreign adversary.

Trump’s current course is that of a one-term president with few significant accomplishments of which to boast. This point seems unassailable, though he has been more productive than he has been given credit for in the media. There are only two alternative courses: a truncated term or a successful, two-term presidency. The first may be in the hands of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The second is likely in outside hands as well. As the heat keeps rising, we’ll wait to see who delivers the president his best clear shot at redemption. At this point, Kim Jong Un must be the odds-on favorite.

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 4:28 AM with the headline "Trump’s kitchen is getting hotter."