Meanwhile, other news was happening. The new minister of public information, Anthony Scaramucci, was busy hunting the leakers. A Trump ban on transgender people serving in the military in part to help congressional supporters. More intimidation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. More of what appeared to be White House-sponsored leaks speculating about a recess appointment of a new attorney general. More speculation about firing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Reports that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke tried to intimidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on her “no” vote to repeal Obamacare by threatening to withdraw administration support for policies and programs beneficial to her state.

Even some welcome news came tinged with ominous signs. Foxconn announced that it will build a new plant in House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s district. Like many of these deals, the tax giveaways (up to $3 billion, or as much as $1 million per each new job) undermine the value, but the larger point is that the deal seems consistent with Trump’s approach of making decisions exclusively based on his personal interests. The factory’s location is no accident: Wisconsin was key to Trump’s victory, and Ryan can be either a key ally or an obstacle for the president’s agenda. The announcement is carrot and a stick for Ryan.