Yep, we really are talking about Donald Trump’s resignation

| 6:10 pm EDT May 7, 2018
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Last month, after the FBI raided the home and office of Donald Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen, and it became clear that the Feds had gained access to Trump’s dirtiest of secrets, reporter April Ryan asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders if Trump was planning to resign. The answer of course was “no.” But Palmer Report explained that the important part was the fact that the question was being asked of the administration at all. Four weeks later, we really are talking about Donald Trump’s resignation.

As could have been predicted, the other briefing room reporters didn’t dare continue asking Huckabee Sanders if Trump is going to resign. But the premise of Trump’s resignation has since surfaced in numerous headlines. Presidencies are defined by the questions that frame them, regardless of what the answers to those questions might initially be. If the core question about Trump is whether he’s going to resign, then that’s going to stick, until the issue is forced. Now we’re finally seeing it.

When (the real) Stormy Daniels appeared on Saturday Night Live this weekend alongside (Alec Baldwin’s fake) Donald Trump, he asked what she really wanted from him. She simply said “resignation.” When Daniels lawyer was interviewed by The Guardian over the weekend, he predicted that Trump will end up having to resign. Yes, these words are being spoken by Trump’s most outspoken adversaries – but again, it frames the question. And when it comes to Trump, the question that’s increasingly defining his presidency is when and how it’s going to prematurely end.

This is a trend worth continuing to watch. Donald Trump’s departure, whether it ends up being via impeachment or resignation under pressure, is ultimately going to be dictated by the court of public opinion. Just as a reminder, even if Trump does resign, it won’t get him off the legal hook for his various crimes.