In one week’s time, President Trump has again demonstrated that his sympathies stretch no further than his personal fortunes and personal favors.

He is using the power of the presidency and the might of the federal government in his own petty game of sticks and carrots. His responses depend solely on whether he, as a person, and his family empire, are being complimented or criticized.

Last week, Trump diverted attention from his dying health reform plan and failing Republican senatorial choice in Alabama by denigrating N.F.L. players protesting for racial justice and equality. That got people talking, and arguing. It was all over TV, Trump’s gauge of all things good.

Furthermore, Trump saw the issue as a winning one for him. Indeed, a CNN/SSRS poll released Friday found that about half of respondents overall and nearly nine in 10 Republicans believed that “protesting players are doing the wrong thing to express their political opinion when they kneel during the National Anthem.”