I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

~Presidential Oath of Office

I often wondered why every federal legislative and judicial official, every member of the armed services and every naturalized citizen takes an oath of national allegiance which includes the words “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” while the commander-in-chief does not.  The technical answer is simple.  The oath for everyone except the president is found in 5 U.S. Code §3331.  In fact, the code explicitly states, “An individual, except the president, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath.”

In stark contrast, the language contained in the presidential oath is prescribed in Article II, Section One, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution.  Adding the words “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” would require a Constitutional amendment.  Good luck with that especially when Trumpist legislators would label such an effort as a political stunt by Democrats to embarrass the incumbent.  As Trump would say, “I don’t need any help. I alone can do that.  Believe me.”

The significance of this anomaly resurfaced in my head this morning when the panel on Morning Joe found it somewhat odd that Trump and Moscow Mitch would still be a captive of the National Rifle Association (NRA) when the organization is losing members and is embroiled in its own financial scandal.  How could Trump accommodate a call from NRA executive director Wayne LaPierre when he told El Paso’s representative in Congress Veronica Escobar he was too busy to talk with her?

A logical explanation was voiced by guests on yesterday’s Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace.  Trump’s path to re-election in 2020 is so narrow he cannot afford to lose the votes of a single Second Amendment purist, or for that matter, a single white nationalist.  Makes sense.  Except, it is not enough to ensure victory.  He still needs a handful of independents and moderate Republicans to cross the finish line.

Which is why it makes no difference if Trump has to take an oath against American’s enemies domestic or foreign.  He is much more worried about his “friends” who could become his “enemies.”  This morning’s panel speculated the phone call between Trump and LaPierre went something like this.

LaPierre: Donald, my boy, do you remember how much money we spent on you in 2016 and how many of our members voted for you?

Trump: Yes, sir.

LaPierre:  Do you want us to do the same thing in 2020?

Trump: Yes, sir.

LaPierre: I’m not sure we can do that if you support universal background checks.  Capiche?

Trump: Yes, sir.

Yet, even after making the case if Trump could not survive without NRA members, they reminded viewers 69 percent of NRA members support universal background checks (Source: March 2018 Monmouth University Poll).  How tough would it have been to tell LaPierre his membership did not share his position on the issue?  In what must have sent Trump off the rails, one of the panelists asked, “How weak do you have to be not to stand up to the NRA leadership when their own members would agree with you?”

Weak, maybe?  I think it is more about fear.  Not fear of NRA members.  Most will still pull the Trump lever regardless of what he does on background checks.  Trump’s bigger enemy is LaPierre for a totally different reason.  Imagine if their conversation sounded more like this than a discussion of NRA member preferences.

LaPierre:  Donnie, my boy, can I remind you of a couple of things?

Trump: Sure.

LaPierre: Do you remember that $100 million we spent in 2016?

Trump: Yes, sir.

LaPierre:  And do you remember where most of that money came from?

Trump:  Yes, but we shouldn’t be talking about that.  You never know who’s listening.

LaPierre:  Unless you block any legislation requiring more background checks or, God forbid, a ban on assault weapons, I am going to talk about it.  To anybody who is interested.  Anybody!  Capiche?

Trump: Yes, sir.

And I suspect Vladimir Putin, Jerry Fallwell, Jr., Mark Burnett (producer of “The Apprentice”) and a majority of Trump’s “friends” could have similar conversations.  There is no telling how many of his past “supporters” could destroy him on a moment’s notice.  Fox News viewers can ignore Bob Mueller, Jerry Nadler or Elijah Cummings.  Not the case if LaPierre confirms the truth about Russian interference in 2016 and documents NRA laundering of foreign contributions.  But he’ll never have to do that.  Because he owns Trump and Trump knows it.

Amending the Constitution to require a president to include the words “against enemies domestic and foreign” is not Trump-specific.  In his case, the oath would read:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully sit in the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend myself against my friends and enemies, foreign and domestic.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP