With what The New York Times called "almost cathartic satisfaction," Senator Bob Corker took his feud with the president from Twitter to mainstream media, proclaiming during a 25-minute confessional that Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.”
After a brief reposte following the day's Twitter-fight in which President Trump accused him of lacking "guts" and he compared the White House to an "adult day care center," Corker went running to the New York Times to spill his guts, saying that he believes Trump is out of control, and dangerous:
Trump is treating the presidency like “a reality show” and acts “like he’s doing ‘The Apprentice’ or something.”
“He concerns me. He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”
Then, desperate to refute Trump's claims that he had begged for an endorsement for 2018 and backed out when he didn't receive one, he claimed Trump actually pushed him to run, saying:
"I don't know why the president tweets out things that are not true. You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does."
Corker had plenty more to spill (as Axios notes)...
On how fellow GOP senators feel: "Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we're dealing with here... of course they understand the volatility that we're dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around him to keep him in the middle of the road."
On Trump undermining Tillerson: "A lot of people think that there is some kind of 'good cop, bad cop' act underway, but that's just not true."
On Trump's tweets harming U.S. foreign policy: "I know he has hurt, in several instances, he's hurt us as it relates to negotiations that were underway by tweeting things out."
Interetingly The New York Times itself seemed unimpressed by Corker's rant, noting:
"In a 25-minute conversation, Mr. Corker, speaking carefully and purposefully, seemed to almost find cathartic satisfaction by portraying Mr. Trump in terms that most senior Republicans use only in private."
We suspect this is far from over - with or without Trump's kindergarten cop Kelly to manage him.
Perhaps most concerning (for markets as much as anything else) is that Corker has many friends in the Senate and we suspect this feud will do nothing to help Trump pass any reform.