Is Trump actually running the government?

[procon]

Reading the news, it would appear that's not the case and Trump isn't running the country so much as he running a self indulgent one man PR campaign to buff up his own rickety image. So if Trump isn't 110% engaged with all the myriad of complex issues, the domestic problems, and the global threats that the country is facing, then who is the real power behind the throne?

Is there some clandestine Shadow Government doing the real work of governing, a secret cabal plotting their own agenda, a Svengali-like man behind the mirror, or maybe a foreign power undermining our democracy with insider help?

[LonePirate]

1. 45 has always been a figurehead. Pence and company are running the government.

45 wanted the job for the title and attention, not for the work or power.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Trump never really wanted the job, just the attention.

[lapfog_1]

2. Sec Mattis and CoS Kelly

respectively (foreign and domestic policies).

Dealing with a) making Trump feel like he is in charge (kissing his ass) and b) dealing with the fallout from his tweets take up much of their time.

Likely they will let them all (Trumpanzees) roast in the money laundering charges about to come.

[jmowreader]

4. Easy: NO ONE is "running" the government

"The government" has devolved from one unified entity to a collection of minor fiefdoms. Every department thinks of whatever it wants...but before it can execute its nefarious plans, it needs to seek permission from the Real President - Ivanka Trump.

[Girard442]

5. It's hard to see that any one or two people are the true power behind the throne.

I think Mattis and Kelley run around putting out fires while low-level career people keep the machinery running by doing what they did in 2016. You would think that someone would step into the power vacuum and become the de facto president, but I just don't see it. I have a feeling that whenever someone starts to move into a leadership role, the Russians knife him in the back, just to keep the chaos going.

[procon]

6. I worry that no is actually running the store, the just lurch from one crisis

to the next without thought or goal. Trump's minions appear to be relegated to firefighting duties, rushing after him to put out the flames, but no one is looking out for the nation or the people's wellbeing. Trump and his whole administration seem to exist from moment to moment without any direction or strategic policy manual to follow.

[L. Coyote]

7. No, that's the job of the Deep State.