Donald Trump's fearful stench

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The news, in brief …

• Senate passes resolution demanding Epstein files release, sends bill to Trump’s desk

  The Senate quickly passed the resolution to release the Epstein files, following a House vote earlier in the day. Read more.

• “Things happen”: Trump waves away Khashoggi question during summit with MBS

  The president scoffed at a question about the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Read more.

• “Give and take”: White House defends Trump calling reporter “piggy” on Air Force One

  A White House official saw nothing wrong with the irate president insulting a pool reporter. Read more.

Make me smarter …

Why Democrats can’t stay united — even in victory

Stagnant leadership and a culture of learned helplessness keep holding the party back. Read more.

This is how we win?

We’re still mercifully far away from the invention of reliable smell-o-vision, but there’s an undeniable funk to the films of Josh and Benny Safdie.

The brothers are obsessed with people living on the edge. Movies like 2017’s “Good Time” and 2019’s “Uncut Gems” follow urban degenerates whose innumerable mistakes and easily quantifiable missed payments have left them walking a tightrope after their safety net has been repossessed.

If you’ve ever been around a person in a similar manic state of self-preservation, you can pick up on the aroma wafting off the screen. The high, acrid smell of fear-sweat radiates off of leads Adam Sandler and Robert Pattinson in nearly every scene, growing stronger each time they look down and realize they’re stuck on this impossibly tricky and narrow path.

We value our lunch too much to speculate on the top notes of Donald Trump’s scent, but we have to imagine it’s something like Sandler’s. An inveterate scrabbler and social climber, Trump’s life echoes the problem gamblers and fugitives of Safdie flicks. He’s jumped from scam to scam, collecting his paydays and welching on his obligations. For decades, he’s always been able to slip out a side door before the collectors or police come knocking. With the House and Senate near-unanimously passing a bill demanding the release of the Epstein files, Trump is encountering his first locked door.

You can smell the terror coming off Trump in clips from increasingly testy interviews. He yelled “quiet, piggy” at a journalist on Air Force One last week for pressing him on Epstein. He followed it up this week with a threat to ABC’s broadcast license. He’s openly discussed his eternal soul in multiple interviews, clearly considering the end for the first time. Trump’s trapped and desperate like Sandler in his grubby jewelry showroom, praying for divine intervention (or some NBA stars) to take the heat off.

While it’s nice to see Trump squirm, I don’t believe this will sink him. Any Trump punishment for the suspected revelations in the Epstein files won’t come from the places we expect. The Supreme Court has floated him an endless line of credit. The Republicans in the Senate can still stomp out any House revolt. If Trump is truly doomed, his end will likely come like Sandler’s in “Uncut Gems,” an attack by some deranged, overly armed MAGAite who couldn’t handle this final slight.

What do you think? Is this really the end for Trump? Is some six-leg parlay on the horizon for the president? Sound off in the comments.

Before you go …

The GOP is on the cusp of destroying Obamacare

This time Republicans are taking a death-by-increments approach to the ACA — and it just might work. Read more.

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