It’s pretty much impossible to keep up with the Trump train these days.

One barely has time to digest and make sense of some or other outlandish happening before the next incident rolls around, and all of this means that much of the madness is lost in the whirlwind that is the man’s presidency.

That 100-day mark came and went, with many pundits believing the rockiest waters had been navigated, and then Donald went and sacked FBI director James Comey.

Rolling Stone have been trying to make sense of the week, so buckle up and get ready for a bumpy ride.

We’ll skip over Monday, which in any other presidency would have been a bonkers 24 hours, and start with Tuesday, May 9:

2:30 p.m – At the White House daily press briefing, a reporter asks Sean Spicer if the president still has confidence in James Comey. “I have no reason to believe – I haven’t asked him,” Spicer says. “I have not asked the president since the last time we spoke about this.”

Around 5 p.m – Trump’s personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller, is dispatched to hand-deliver a letter of termination to FBI headquarters in D.C., though everyone is apparently unaware that Comey is in Los Angeles.

5:41 p.m – Spicer emerges to tell reporters that “something important” will be arriving in their email inboxes shortly. Everyone furiously updates their phones, without result.

Comey’s termination letter from the president is passed out to all assembled. Among other things, the letter says, “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.”

Around 6 p.m – Speaking to agents at the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles, Comey learns of his dismissal from a television news update that happens to appear on a screen in the room.

That’s a summation of the timeline, by the way, but we’ll jump ahead to Thursday because the kitchen really heats up:

8 a.m – Discussing tax policy in a new interview published in The Economist, Trump appears to claim that he invented the idiom “prime the pump.” “We have to prime the pump,” Trump tells the reporter. “Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven’t heard it. I mean, I just … I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.”

(According to The New York Times, it’s a common metaphor that dates back to the 1930s.)

6 p.m – In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Trump says that it was his idea to fire Comey – contradicting his surrogates – then cites the FBI investigation into his ties with Russia as part of his reasoning, prompting speculation about possible obstruction of justice…

The president adds that Comey is a “showboat” who “was going to fire him regardless of recommendation” from the DOJ.

9 p.m – The New York Times publishes a story alleging that Trump asked Comey to “pledge loyalty” to him at private dinner a week after inauguration. Trump denies the report, saying Comey asked Trump for the dinner and told him he wasn’t under investigation.

And Friday, when the wheels really come off:

7:59 a.m – Trump dismisses criticism about his staff’s contradicting answers: “As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!”

8:07 a.m – Trump then floats the idea of not making the White House available to the pressat all: “Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future ‘press briefings’ and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???”

8:26 a.m – Trump then threatens the FBI director he just fired: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”

1:50 p.m – At the White House press briefing, Spicer is asked about Trump’s suggestion that he has “tapes” of conversations with James Comey. Spicer responds, “That’s not a threat. He’s simply stating a fact. The tweet speaks for itself.”

You almost want to feel sorry for Spicey, trotted out in front of the cameras to defend a man who has no position on anything other than the desire to wield power, but then you remember that he chose to hop in bed with Trump.

I’m not going to work out how many weeks are left in the Trump presidency (supposing he doesn’t get impeached), but you can bet that past week is only one of many, many more off-the wall weeks to come.

[source:rollingstone]