In the hours leading up to the signing of the omnibus spending deal – a bill that adds way more money to the nation’s deficit, and one that was orchestrated largely by Congressional Republicans who campaigned for the last decade on doing the opposite – there were multiple reactions coming from his conservative supporters.

Some praised his threat of a veto, which seemed to signal that he was going to hold on to conservative principles. Others were worried he would sign the bill, which doesn’t even give him the much-touted border wall.

Still others were already finding new and creative ways to blame Trump’s opponents for the looming disaster. I recall one woman calling into Rush Limbaugh’s show to say that this was the fault of the #NeverTrump movement, because they didn’t fight hard enough against the bill. Why would #NeverTrump do this? Because they wanted Trump supporters to lose faith.

Minutes before the press conference, many seemed confident Trump was about to veto the bill before an audience. But, CNN, Fox News, and other sources reported the opposite – the White House was telling them that Trump would sign the bill.

The press conference came, and we saw it for ourselves: Donald Trump signed the omnibus deal. With his signature on the paper, Donald Trump formally surrendered to The Swamp.

I’ve seen the spin.

• Trump is still playing three-dimensional chess.
• He’s playing the long game, you’re worried about one play.
• Trump was dealt a bad hand, by Congress.
• Now is not the time to fight. We must prepare for the next battle.

The people making these statements are the very same conservatives who railed against the Republican Establishment for years for making the same points. It was a crap argument then, and it’s a crap argument now.

The Republicans were given the House of Representatives, the Senate, and finally the White House. In giving them these, Republican voters were assured that spending would go down, Planned Parenthood would lose its government funding, and Obamacare would be repealed. None of this has happened, and Trump, who is supposed to be the leader of the party, has done nothing to get his agenda passed.

Trump has been, and will continue to be, at the mercy of The Swamp. He did not go in with any intention of truly fighting them because he got what he wanted. He got the title of President of the United States. He does the bare minimum, while his White House is in utter chaos. He doesn’t appear to want to really run the country.

The omnibus bill is essentially a formal surrender. Sure, Trump talked a big game, but at the end of the day, he just told Congress “You know what? You do you.” and he signed their bill.

This is a telling moment for the Trump Administration. He has just told all of Washington D.C. that they can do whatever. So long as he has something to sign and can say what he wants about it, they can pass whatever the hell they want. He’ll just take it.

This is supposed to be the alpha male’s alpha male. This is The Man. He is Mr. Tells It Like It Is… Except he’s not anymore. He is just another guy letting The Swamp have its way with him.