Once again it’s not what Trump did, it’s how he did it.

Congress appropriates money. The president spends it.

If Trump doesn’t like how much Congress spends he can veto the spending. Or he can tell Congress ‘cut this waste now’ – and if Congress tells him no he can take his case to voters, let them decide at the ballot box next election.

Instead Trump told Congress, You want to spend it. I don’t. So I’m not going to.’ He canceled their spending.

But that leaves him standing on shaky ground.

There’s nothing wrong with spending cuts. They’re past due. But there’s a right way and wrong way to do things.

Doing things the right way may make it harder for Trump to cut spending. But Trump, or any president, taking power away from Congress and giving it to himself throws the separation of powers doctrine out the window. And that’s a dangerous road to walk.

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Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.