Ann McFeatters

Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — Big news! Fake news is out. Truth is in.

Sort of.

I was at a grocery store the other day and saw a blazing tabloid headline proclaiming Hillary (ran for president in 2016) and her friend Huma had left the country on a private jet to escape from being held responsible for Benghazi. The pictures of them on a plane were so fake, it was laugh-out-loud ridiculous.

And, according to the clerk, nobody bought a copy all day.

The investigation into Russia’s efforts to demoralize U.S. democracy and put Manchurian candidates into top national security posts has grown exponentially in Donald Trump’s short tenure as president. Accordingly, Trump (still smarting that Hillary got 3 million more votes than he did) has brought in to deal with the situation a trusted New York lawyer who has made millions and millions of dollars from his prominent client but has no experience in Washington.

The majority of Americans are so disgusted with the clueless guy in the Oval Office that the basic response has been a national shrug.

While out of the country making nice with Saudi Arabia (selling more weapons to the home of the 9/11 terrorists), Israel, the Vatican (he once publicly trashed the pope but now says “he’s something”), and NATO (which he once declared obsolete), Trump proposed a budget. It cuts life support for millions of Americans, raises billions of dollars more for war and supports enormous tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.

Even Republicans said the budget is so preposterous and unrealistic it is dead on arrival.

Before the NATO meeting, leaders were told to keep their speeches short because the new U.S. leader is easily bored and doesn’t like details.

NATO got the message, but Europe mocked Trump behind his back.

On the other hand:

At the urging of the White House, Senate Republicans are hard at work on a revised plan to take away health care from millions of Americans.

Also, Trump asked the top intelligence and law enforcement officers of the land to drop their investigation into his campaign associates having frequent, worrisome contacts with top Russian officials. Obstruction of justice drove one president from office. Will it drive another one out? Would a sex scandal be better, causing more distress among the populace than incipient treason?

In the meantime, Trump is remaking government to give much less protection to the environment, to enrich big oil and gas, to shred the social safety net and to empty the Treasury through more debt. By not filling key government posts, he is reducing the effectiveness of federal programs designed to help people. (Real people. Not the millionaires and billionaires whose approval he craves.)

He described Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has waged a bloody drug war without trials, as doing an “unbelievable job.” The comment was either a chillingly anti-democratic appraisal or a surprising effort at sophomoric sarcasm.

And why does Trump keep praising Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, a murdering thug who mastered old KGB methods? Why has Trump refused to punish Russia for interfering in our election, instead inviting top Russians into the Oval Office where he vowed he’d get rid of “this Russia thing”?

But, hey. He got through a lot of banquets, hand-shaking photo sessions, and jet lag on his European jaunt. He condemned the heartbreaking terrorist attack against children in Manchester, calling the sick, evil perpetrators “losers,” his ultimate putdown.

He did make an error and confirm that, yes, he did divulge classified information from Israel to the Russians during a carefree, laugh-filled session in the Oval Office, which he permitted the Russian news agency to film but not American news photographers.

As the White House repeatedly explains, this 70-year-old man is so new to politics, let alone governing, that we have to cut him slack because he’s used to getting whatever he wants.

Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps.

Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may send her email at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com.