Thread by @AlexandraErin

So Trump's going on his fourth National Security Adviser. Trump regards firing someone as an admission of mistake and weakness, which is not always the case but the lack of stability in his cabinet and cabinet-equivalent positions certainly is a sign of failure.

In Trumpland, though, the story they've been using from the first upheaval is that every departure is a sign of a job well done. "He brings in people to do a specific job, and they do it, and then it's time to part ways."

Under this up-is-down rubric, the fact that most presidents typically get the vast majority of their top level staff to serve entire terms alongside them is the sign of weakness: you're working on the same thing for four to eight years?

So while we're posting "LOL, Trump hires only the best people, huh?", they're saying "This, but unironically." Hiring Bolton isn't a mistake Trump regrets - it was the right move at the right time and maybe Bolton's not ready to move on but Trump knows it's time.

Now the flipside of this is that MAGAland can praise Trump for hiring Bolton while also excoriating Bolton for being an enemy. Just do a Twitter search for the name Bolton and the word swamp or deep state and you'll see that backlash.