President Donald Trump’s critics exulted over an interview he gave Thursday to Reuters, where he expressed surprise at how difficult his job is. “I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” Trump said. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”

It was hardly the first time he’d expressed amazement about the challenges of his new position. In February, amid Republican infighting over Trumpcare, he said, “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” Earlier this month, after Chinese President Xi Jinping explained to him the history of China and Korea, Trump told The Wall Street Journal, “After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it’s not so easy.”

Delighted that Trump is struggling to achieve his goals, his critics are breathing a sight of relief at his thwarted presidency—or at least downgrading their alarm. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias wrote that “with the important exception of immigration, Trump’s first 100 days have been both more conventional and less consequential than he promised or than most Americans would likely have anticipated the morning after the election.” New York Times columnist, Gail Collins declared that Trump is running a “can’t do” presidency: “For a man who loves drama, Trump’s domestic role lately has been super undramatic.” Her colleague David Brooks concluded that Trump has “gotten smaller and more conventional. Many of his critics still react to him every single day at Outrage Level 11, but the Trump threat is at Level 3 or 4.”

These evaluations are short-sighted. It’s true that Trump’s legislative agenda is trapped in the quagmire of a divided Republican Congress, and that Trump is backtracking on many of his promises, especially his “America First” agenda. Speaking to the Journal on Thursday, he bizarrely tried to split the difference between the competing factions in his White House: “Hey, I’m a nationalist and a globalist. I’m both. And I’m the only one who makes the decision, believe me.”

But Trump’s failure to enact consequential domestic policies doesn’t mean he’s become a “conventional” president. The very ignorance of governance and policy that has made Trump’s first 100 days an exercise in futility is also radically reshaping the executive branch. His lasting legacy won’t be administrative inertia, but the corruption of the presidency itself.