Trump's complicated relationship with Mueller's investigation is on full display before televised hearings


Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller will testify publicly before House lawmakers for five hours on Wednesday, and the TV networks are promising blanket coverage. Will President Trump be watching? "No, I'm not going to be watching, probably," he told reporters Monday. "Maybe I'll see a little bit of it."
Trump and his aides are pre-emptively dismissing the hearings as old sour grapes, The New York Times notes, but "Trump's history of remaining glued to television news — especially when the coverage is about him — suggests that he is certain to be tuned in as Democrats on Capitol Hill use Mr. Mueller's appearance to amplify the damning report about the president and the people in his orbit."
Trump's approach to Mueller's report and upcoming testimony "reminds us of the line from the opening of Annie Hall," Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly write at The Washington Post. "Two women are eating at a Catskills resort, and one says, 'The food at this place is really terrible.' The other replies, 'I know, and such small portions."' Trump has "spoken or tweeted about Mueller more than 300 times during his presidency," they add, and he appears to view Mueller's report as "both an exoneration and a source of bitter complaints," hailing "some of the report's findings — usually by mischaracterizing them — while denouncing its other conclusions."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is the media's rare chance "to correct a serious wrong" from it's "gullible" coverage of Attorney General William Barr's slanted recap of Mueller's report, which "essentially transmitted to the public — especially in all-important headlines and cable-news bulletins — what President Trump desperately wanted as the takeaway: No collusion; no obstruction," the Post's Margaret Sullivan argues. "Many Americans have made up their minds already about Mueller's findings," but "there is an opportunity here to remove a false, cartoon version of Mueller's investigation and to substitute a well-rendered portrait of a subject that could hardly be more important to the country."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
A Booker shortlist for grown-ups?
Talking Point Dominated by middle-aged authors, this year’s list is a return to ‘good old-fashioned literary fiction’
-
Fractured France: an ‘informative and funny’ enquiry
The Week Recommends Andrew Hussey's work is a blend of ‘memoir, travelogue and personal confession’
-
How digital ID cards work around the world
The Explainer Many countries use electronic ID to streamline access to services despite concern by civil rights groups they ‘shift the balance of power towards the state’
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furniture
Speed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlement
speed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel
-
Trump DOJ indicts Comey, longtime Trump target
Speed Read The president is using the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies