Trump hasn't bleated about special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election as much lately as he did before, but he's still obsessed with it in private.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that Trump and Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) got into a "profane shouting match" after Trump scolded McConnell for not shutting down Mueller's investigation.
According to Politico, Trump also called two other Republican senators to complain about the investigation and the Russia sanctions bill.
Trump expressed frustration over a bipartisan bill sanctioning Russia and tried to convince Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that it wasn't good policy, according to three people familiar with the call. Trump argued that the legislation was unconstitutional and said it would damage his presidency. Corker was unrelenting, these people said, and told Trump the bill was going to pass both houses with bipartisan support.
[...]
Trump dialed up Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Aug. 7, two days before a blunt call with the Senate majority leader that spilled over into a public feud. Tillis is working with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on a bill designed to protect Robert Mueller, the independent counsel investigating the president's Russia connections, from any attempt by Trump to fire him.
I am not about to sing the praises of Bob Corker, but Trump lecturing him about what is or is not "good policy" is hilarious. I literally guffawed when I read that. Trump doesn't even fucking know what policy is. And Corker has to realize by now that Trump is an idiot.
Trump continued his attacks on Mitch McConnell on Twitter this morning and he added Paul Ryan to the mix.
I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017
...didn't do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2017
You already know this, but Dems are not the ones responsible for threats to shut down the government or default on the national debt. And attaching language to raise the debt ceiling to a bill concerning veterans is exactly the kind cynical ploy that Trump would have attacked during the 2016 campaign.
It's amusing that the Freedom Caucus types still believe Trump is their fiscal austerity savior, but here he is scolding establishment leaders for not tucking the debt ceiling into a completely unrelated bill.
Trump doesn't give a shit about anything but optics. His optics.