This week in the saga

The trade war rises into a siege from the ramparts: tariffs, he declares, are the greatest weapon — negotiate fairly, or be hit. Then, briefly, a truce, as he shakes hands with Europe and calls it a big day for free and fair trade. The numbers surge like a battle aura and he announces, thrilled, that the economy grew four point one percent. But the border hardens him: he is willing, he warns, to shut the whole government down if he is denied the votes for the wall. He meets the lord of the great newspaper face to face, and they speak of the phrase he has minted for the press — the enemy of the people. Every front widens at once, and in Virginia a courtroom is quietly being prepared.