(CNN) President Donald Trump is facing a humbling prospect: The same Washington buzzsaw that frustrated his 44 predecessors can pose significant hurdles for him as well.
In his first month in office, Trump has found the vast government machine can’t be reset at a president’s whim with the same ease that an executive can manage a business. Rival power centers in the courts, the bureaucracy and Congress can emerge as a threat at any point.
In just the past week, political pressure forced Trump to fire his national security adviser and watch one of his Cabinet nominees withdraw from consideration. Meanwhile, Trump is facing persistent — and growing — questions about his campaign’s ties to Russia as some fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill become more vocal about their concerns. And legislative victories are hard to come by as congressional Republicans struggle to unify behind policy measures and Democrats form a generally solid bloc of opposition.
The transition from candidate to president is tough for virtually every young administration. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, for instance, had rocky opening weeks as their campaign idealism encountered Washington reality. But Trump’s first month in office is especially noteworthy since so much of his trouble stems from self-inflicted wounds ranging from the rushed rollout of his travel ban to his frequent Twitter distractions.
The sense of turmoil surrounding the new administration could undermine a central tenet of Trump’s pitch to voters — that he is a non-politician uniquely positioned to make a deal and get Washington working again.
“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” Trump said last summer when he accepted the GOP nomination in Cleveland. “I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens.”
