As per usual, Trump began this week on a controversial note. During a rally in Texas on Monday to support Republican Senator and former presidential rival Ted Cruz in the swift-approaching midterm elections, Trump proudly declared that he is a nationalist. The term is controversial, as it carries connotations of authoritarianism, chauvinism, and jingoism. Though experts have long labeled Trump's policies and sensibilities as such, this marked the first time that Trump embraced the title. In the same rally, Trump also said that he and Cruz - who Trump once dubbed "Lyin' Ted" - have put their differences behind them: "To me, he's not Lyin' Ted anymore. He's Beautiful Ted. He's Texas - I call him Texas Ted."
On Monday, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a victory by stopping the deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a lawsuit seeking to fight the decision to reinstate the citizenship question on the US census. The citizenship question is critical, as data contained therein is used to set policies, apportion Congressional seats, and allocating federal funds. The filers of the suit - the ACLU and New York attorney general - claim that the citizenship question produces inaccurate results by deterring immigrants from responding. This week's census win doesn't help the administration with their other Wilbur Ross problem, however.
On Tuesday, Trump finally denounced Saudi Arabia for its involvement in and cover-up of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The administration also issued sanctions against Saudi individuals involved in the murder, but is still considering whether to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia itself. Trump has been reluctant to do so due to close economic ties between the US and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met with the Saudi Crown Prince on Monday.
Trump also condemned on Tuesday the mailing of bombs to several prominent Democrats and other figures who have been lambasted by Trump in the past, including the Clintons, the Obamas, George Soros, CNN, and others. "Threats or acts of political violence have no place in the US," Trump . By Wednesday, after the head of CNN criticized Trump for contributing to a politically volatile atmosphere with his repeated attacks on media, Trump went on the offensive, claiming that media and Democrats are responsible for creating acrimony. On Friday, a fingerprint found on one of the packages led to the arrest of a Florida man who is something of a Trump fanatic.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that China and Russia have spied on Trump using his personal cell phones. Despite the urging of his aides and other senior officials, Trump has refused to give up using his cell phones. Trump dismissed the report as "boring" and "wrong."
In between clashing with the media and the spectacle of sectarian politics, some governing did get done: on Tuesday, Trump signed into law the bipartisan Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, which authorizes federal spending on water infrastructure projects.