Photo: Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Though he’s proven himself incapable of working eight-hour days or maintaining a consistent story about why he fired his FBI director, President Trump has shown remarkable focus and dedication when it comes to proving certain minor and irrelevant points. The most famous example is his insistence that he drew the biggest inauguration crowd ever, but his latest fixation is arguably even more pathetic. Though most Americans probably missed Trump’s false claim on Sunday that Alabama was likely to be hit by Hurricane Dorian, he spent the rest of the week highlighting his own embarrassing mistake, touting a map that had clearly been altered with a Sharpie, then repeatedly complaining that the media owes him an apology. By Saturday, following a shameless unsigned statement on Friday from the NOAA supporting Trump’s lie, Trump and his administration had drawn official rebukes from numerous high-profile meteorologists and former government officials.

Here’s a recap of this week’s dumbest saga, which now seems poised to outlast the hurricane itself.

Sunday: Trump Needlessly Warns Alabama

On Sunday morning, Trump included Alabama in a list of states that should be preparing for Hurricane Dorian. Note that he said Alabama would “most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated”; days later, he says he merely warned that “one model” showed Alabama “would have been hit or grazed” — though the original tweet is still up.

In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2019

The National Hurricane Center never issued such a forecast. Meteorologists called Trump out on the error immediately, and the Birmingham branch of the National Weather Service confirmed that the president had his facts mixed up. Still, he continued to repeat the error.

“It may get a little piece of a great place — it’s called Alabama, and Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds,” Trump said during a FEMA briefing on Sunday. “This just came up, unfortunately. It’s the size of the storm that we’re talking about. So for Alabama, please be careful also.”

Monday: Trump Lashes Out at Reporter for Fact-checking False Claim

Rather than admitting he made a mistake and moving on, Trump insulted ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl for reporting in a Monday evening broadcast that the National Weather Service had issued a correction, and there was no threat to Alabama.

....when in fact, under certain original scenarios, it was in fact correct that Alabama could have received some “hurt.” Always good to be prepared! But the Fake News is only interested in demeaning and belittling. Didn’t play my whole sentence or statement. Bad people! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 2, 2019

Wednesday: Trump Pulls Out His Sharpie, and a Meme Is Born

In an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday, Trump took the next step in his casual dismissal of fact. He unveiled “the original chart” — an older projection model from the National Hurricane Center — in which Alabama appeared to have been tacked onto the forecast in Sharpie. “It was going toward the Gulf, that was what was originally projected,” Trump said. Naturally, he didn’t mention that the weird black bubble was shaped as if to perfectly encompass the Alabama coast, and did not adhere to the form of normal projections.

A White House official told the Washington Post that Trump altered the map himself. “No one else writes like that on a map with a black Sharpie,” the official said.

Shortly after the press conference with the doctored image, Trump tweeted out some evidence to back up his claim: a map from the South Florida Water Management District that was four days old by the time he issued his Sunday warning to Alabama.

This was the originally projected path of the Hurricane in its early stages. As you can see, almost all models predicted it to go through Florida also hitting Georgia and Alabama. I accept the Fake News apologies! pic.twitter.com/0uCT0Qvyo6 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2019

Apparently Trump did not see the fine print on the map itself, which reads:

NHC Advisories and County Emergency Management Statements supersede this product. This graphic should complement, not replace, NHC discussions. If anything on this graphic causes confusion, ignore the entire product.

No NHC maps ever projected Dorian to cross into Alabama.

Thursday: Trump Offers More Misleading Evidence

By this point Trump’s Sharpie-doctored map was being widely mocked, and many noted that it’s illegal to present a doctored National Weather Service forecast as the real thing. (The punishment can include a prison sentence of up to 90 days, though Trump certainly won’t face legal consequences.)

Nevertheless, Trump insisted in a pair of Thursday morning tweets that Dorian was originally projected to hit Alabama, displaying his bizarre penchant for drawing out embarrassing controversies way longer than necessary.

....Instead it turned North and went up the coast, where it continues now. In the one model through Florida, the Great State of Alabama would have been hit or grazed. In the path it took, no. Read my FULL FEMA statement. What I said was accurate! All Fake News in order to demean! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019

About two hours later — after he had retweeted some accurate information from the National Weather Service and attacked actress Debra Messing (you know, the normal presidential routine during a hurricane) — Trump returned to his Alabama obsession.

Alabama was going to be hit or grazed, and then Hurricane Dorian took a different path (up along the East Coast). The Fake News knows this very well. That’s why they’re the Fake News! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019

He revisited the matter on Thursday afternoon, posting a map from last week that showed, at best, a 10 percent chance of tropical-storm-force winds hitting Alabama:

Just as I said, Alabama was originally projected to be hit. The Fake News denies it! pic.twitter.com/elJ7ROfm2p — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019

Finally, Trump had an adviser issue a statement saying Trump’s statement on Sunday was based on forecasts that “included the possibility of tropical storm force winds in southeastern Alabama” — a possibility that lasted through Monday morning.

You may be surprised to learn the President is not giving this up!! pic.twitter.com/MlYgBPknnv — Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) September 5, 2019

As ABC News notes:

A National Hurricane Center map from Monday morning shows a tiny part of southeastern Alabama having a small, 5 to 10% chance of seeing tropical storm-force winds, or winds of 39 mph or greater. Every state up the East Coast had at least the same slight chance — including New York, Maine and other northeastern states, although Trump never mentioned the slight threat to those.

Friday: Trump Presses NOAA Into Service, Prompting a Hurricane of Backlash

On Friday morning, Trump complained that the Fake News Media still hasn’t said sorry for its accurate reporting. He also noted that “this nonsense has never happened to another President” — though presumably, that has something to do with Trump being the first president to forge a hurricane forecast map.

The Fake News Media was fixated on the fact that I properly said, at the beginnings of Hurricane Dorian, that in addition to Florida & other states, Alabama may also be grazed or hit. They went Crazy, hoping against hope that I made a mistake (which I didn’t). Check out maps..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2019

....This nonsense has never happened to another President. Four days of corrupt reporting, still without an apology. But there are many things that the Fake News Media has not apologized to me for, like the Witch Hunt, or SpyGate! The LameStream Media and their Democrat..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2019

....partner should start playing it straight. It would be so much better for our Country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2019

Also on Friday morning, the ever-opportunistic Trump campaign confirmed that they see the fight as a base-booster by promoting sales of “official Donald Trump fine-point markers” to capitalize on the controversy and further troll the media. In the afternoon, Trump’s twitter account shared a video which excerpts a very early CNN forecast about the possible path of the Hurricane, in which Alabama is mentioned as in the hurricane’s possible path.

Then on Friday evening, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, released an unsigned statement rebuking the Birmingham branch of the National Weather Service, which had posted a tweet on Sunday refuting the president’s claim and assuring Alabamians that they were not in danger. The Birmingham office, according to the anonymous NOAA statement, “spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available.”

This extremely misleading statement and stunning apparent capitulation prompted outrage from well-respected meteorologists and numerous former leaders at the NOAA, NWS, and National Hurricane Center. All praised the NWS staff at the Birmingham office and most had choice words for whoever was behind the NOAA statement. Some expressed fears that the Trump administration, in service of the president’s vanity, was discrediting government forecasters whose work consistently saves countless American lives.

Saturday: Trump Can’t Resist Blaming the Media for Making Him Defend Himself

President Trump made it through most of the day without mentioning Sharpiegate, but then at 4:44 p.m., he claimed on Twitter that he just couldn’t abide the way a single sentence in the New York Times report on the NOAA’s Friday statement had framed his original tweet about Alabama. Indeed, he presented the line — which was part of section reporting that people in Alabama didn’t seem to much care about the controversy — as a smoking gun:

The Failing New York Times stated, in an article written by Obama flunky Peter Baker (who lovingly wrote Obama book),”Even after the President forecast the storm to include Alabama.” THIS IS NOT TRUE. I said, VERY EARLY ON, that it MAY EVEN hit Alabama. A BIG DIFFERENCE..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019

...FAKE NEWS. I would like very much to stop referring to this ridiculous story, but the LameStream Media just won’t let it alone. They always have to have the last word, even though they know they are defrauding & deceiving the public. The public knows that the Media is corrupt! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019

So, when will Trump finally drop this? One senior administration official suggested the media will have to blink first, telling the Post, “as long as it’s in the news, he is not going to drop it.”

And as long as he keeps talking about it, it is likely to remain in the news.

This post has been updated throughout.

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