In Our View: President on Wrong Track

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russians and three Russian companies for interfering with the 2016 U.S. election neither vindicates nor accuses the Trump campaign of collusion. But the indictments have led to a disconcerting reaction from the president that highlights the damage he is doing to American institutions.

This is not simply an opportunity to criticize Trump. As The Columbian has written editorially, “Trump won the election, and rooting for him to fail is akin to hoping that a pilot crashes the plane in which you are riding.” No, we desperately hope for him to succeed, even if we frequently decry his policies. But Trump’s reaction to the indictments serves as an example of the self-inflicted harm he has delivered upon his presidency.

Since the indictments were announced last week, Trump has taken to Twitter to criticize the FBI, Democratic members of Congress, Facebook, the “fake news media,” President Barack Obama, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and others — seemingly every entity but Russia. He also has falsely claimed that he never disputed Russian involvement. That last item is easily disputed; on Twitter, through press releases, and in interviews, Trump frequently has claimed that Russia did not attempt to influence the election. Meanwhile, he has failed to impose sanctions upon Russia that were passed by Congress and which he signed into law.

The issue is not whether Russian meddling helped swing the election. Trump was elected by Americans and is our president. In Clark County, he received only 316 fewer votes than Hillary Clinton out of more than 200,000, indicating that his support was not limited to the South or to what West Coast bluebloods dismissively refer to as “flyover states.”

But Trump’s reaction to the investigation is helping to dismantle our intelligence community and our election system. It also is legitimizing questions about whether he has the temperament to lead this nation.

Ideally, the president of the United States would respond to accusations of meddling thusly: “These are serious accusations. I look forward to our intelligence community fully investigating them and reaching conclusions that will allow us to strengthen our electoral process. Democracy is too valuable to be undermined by a foreign adversary.”

That, of course, it not Trump’s style. And, admittedly, such a response would have run counter to the reasons that many people voted for him. His unpredictability and combativeness are viewed by supporters as features, rather than bugs.

But in the process, the president is undermining the institutions that help make the United States a stable democracy. Independent law enforcement and an independent media are pillars of our nation but have become frequent Trump targets. As the president lobs criticism toward the FBI, it is notable that a Gallup poll recently found that 49 percent of Republicans believe the agency is doing an “excellent” or “good” job, down from 63 percent in 2003.

Meanwhile, the list of those convinced that Russia meddled with the 2016 election includes the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and others who are privy to the details. The list of those who dispute the meddling: Donald Trump and Russia.

If Trump wishes to stabilize his presidency, he would be wise to work for the benefit of democracy and follow where the facts lead. Otherwise, it feels as though we’re flying into the side of a mountain.