Donald Trump likes to put his name on everything he builds, touches, or sells. Id like to suggest a new addition to the brand line: Trump Lemonade. If anyone has ever mastered the art of turning lemons into lemonade, it is President Trump. Probably the greatest instance of such was when he took a bullet to the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, and turned an attempted assassination into an unbeatable campaign slogan - "Fight! Fight! Fight!" You could also argue that his election loss to Joe Biden in 2020 would have soured a lesser man on politics forever, but Trump took a humiliating defeat and turned it into the launch pad of the greatest comeback in U.S. history. Or as I like to think of it, political lemonade. Even earlier than that, Trump saved his bid for the presidency in 2016 by overcoming the devastating Access Hollywood tape that painted him as a sexual predator. That was a pretty big lemon, but Trump entered a crucial debate against Hillary Clinton two days later by hosting a press conference featuring three women who had charged former President Bill Clinton with sexual misconduct. Even the anti-Trump press was drinking lemonade out of Trumps hand, thanks to that stunt. But if you wanted a prime example of Trumps recipe for success to anchor a doctoral dissertation, you could do no better than the rise and fall and rise of Ed Martin, Trumps original choice to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in this second term. Martin had served in the position on an interim basis since Jan. 20, the date of Trumps inauguration, and was expected to get confirmed for a full term by May 20, when his interim appointment would expire. Instead, RepublicanSen. Thom Tillisof North Carolina on May 6 announced he would not support Martin because of the attorneys role in vociferously representing Jan. 6 defendants. Although MAGA world was prepared to fight for the nomination, just as they successfully fought to save Pete Hegseths nomination as defense secretary, Trump unexpectedly pulled the plug on Martin two days later. The reaction from Democrats and much of the media was celebratory, claiming that they had earned a rare scalp in their war against Trump. The exuberance on the left was typified by McClatchy opinion writer David Mastios column that bore the headline,"Trumps power may never be the same after Ed Martins Senate defeat." Mastio seized on Martins role in the Stop the Steal movement following the 2020 presidential election, and like Tillis, saw the withdrawal of his nomination as vindication for the establishment view that the election was"the most secure in American history." On Thursday, for the first time, one of Trumps first-day priorities has been undone, not by activist judges or carping Democrats, but by Republican Senate opposition that took direct aim at one of Trumps most dearly held illusions - his ridiculous claim that the 2020 election was stolen. But upon reading the rest of Mastios column, it becomes clear that his headline was based on wishful thinking, not on facts - or even conjecture. Indeed, Mastio seems to be making the opposite point: With 18 months to go before midterm elections allow the public to deliver a verdict on Trumps second, even more populist term,the president remains incredibly powerful.He could take action to make the handful of Republican senators who undid Martins nomination pay for their disloyalty in an effort to reassert his hold on the party. (Emphasis mine.) In the next paragraph, Mastio admits that Trump can easily find someone to replace Martin, but holds on to the hope that Tillis rebellion is "perhaps … a sign that Trumps iron grip on the party is starting to loosen as his standing in the polls weaken[s] and his court defeats grow more serious." But even in the throes of Trump Derangement Syndrome, Mastio doesnt quite believe that. His conclusion? "If Trumps opponents have learned anything in recent months, it is to never count the president out." Bingo. And as if to prove the point, President Trump named a replacement for Ed Martins nomination later that afternoon that drove his critics crazy. Going to the Fox News well one more time,Trump tapped Jeanine Pirro, co-host of the popular conservative panel show "The Five." Earlier in her career, Pirro was a judge and long-time district attorney in Westchester County, New York. But in a delightful twist of the knife, what Pirro is best known for these days is being a hardline MAGA supporter who used her primetime Fox News show to advance the argument that the 2020 election was stolen. She did such a good job at it that she is currently being sued by the Smartmatic voting machine company for defamation. In other words, she is Ed Martin in a skirt. But President Trump wasnt satisfied with merely replacing Martin with another advocate for the Jan. 6 defendants, and thus tweaking Sen. Tillis for his disloyal opposition. Instead, he announced that Martin wasnt leaving in disgrace, but would instead be hired by the Department of Justice as the director of the Weaponization Working Group, associate deputy attorney general, and pardon attorney. In other words, hell get right to work investigating whether the Biden Justice Department used those hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions as malicious political weapons. Lets see what Thom Tillis thinks about that. MSNBC was typical of the far-left media when they lamented that"Despite his radicalism, Ed Martin lands on his feet with new Justice Department job."Or, as David Mastio wrote the day before, "never count the president out." Damn right. Trumps already won, six ways from Sunday, and you can bet that Tillis, MSNBC, and Mastio are all puckered up as they down this latest sour batch of Trump Lemonade. Enjoy! Frank Miele, retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book"The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake"is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him atHeartlandDiaryUSA.comor follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.
