Will Trump listen to the few sane voices left around him?

If not, we may be headed straight for a constitutional crisis

Presdient Trump, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

When Donald Trump ran for president, many voters admitted to concerns about his lack of knowledge and experience, but justified their vote in his favor by saying that his decisions would be enhanced, or if necessary restrained, by the more seasoned people he would gather around him. The president doesn't run everything all by himself, after all, and if President Trump had an impulse to do something rash, presumably his staff would be able to talk some sense into him.

With this presidency only six months old and existing in a state somewhere between crisis and chaos, it's a good time to ask whether Trump can in fact be pulled back from the ledge by his advisers. Because pretty soon we might have the chance to find out, with the stakes enormously high.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.