Story highlights Faced with an explosive political situation at his feet, Trump lobs a rhetorical grenade elsewhere

It moves the conversation from one that has him on defense to one where he is on offense

Washington (CNN) The weekend's frenzy over President Donald Trump's so-far unsubstantiated claim that his predecessor tried to wiretap him is the latest example of a world view in which elections are rigged, the news he doesn't like is fake, there is mass voter fraud and the intelligence community is out to topple the White House with leaks.

It's the latest example in a pattern perfected by a president whose actions have had the effect of diversion. Faced with an explosive political situation at his feet, he lobs a rhetorical grenade elsewhere, using the resulting blast and confusion to his advantage. It moves the conversation from one that has him on defense to one where he is on offense.

When Trump made the unsubstantiated claim on Twitter that his predecessor had wiretapped him in the waning days of the 2016 election, it diverted attention from the growing body of undisputed reports that his surrogates and staffers had met with the Russian ambassador before and after the election. His campaign chairman was forced out over the summer after questions about his ties to Ukraine and Russia, his national security adviser was fired last month and last week came the news that his staffers and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russians before the election.

Russians at that time were doing their own meddling in the 2016 campaign, according to a US intelligence report

There's no evidence that the Trump campaign had anything to do with that effort, but the meetings, disputed at first but then admitted became an overriding focus in the news media. After the intelligence community concluded Russia was trying to meddle in the election, the meetings between Trump staffers and Russian officials were certainly newsworthy, even if no direct connection was established.