Will Comey's dismissal bring Trump down?

Whoever is appointed to succeed Comey will inevitably be seen as Trump's lackey, The Irish Examiner is convinced:

“It's profoundly troubling that a US president whose administration is already under investigation on multiple fronts would take such an action. Whoever is appointed to run the FBI permanently will be seen as beholden to the president who appointed him or her. That will make any decision not to pursue investigations into the president look politically motivated and illegitimate. The erosion of the independence of law enforcement is thus a blow to the unwritten constitutional norm of political neutrality. It doesn't violate the separation of powers. But it violates a norm that in its own way is almost as important.”

First Trump said he'd fired the FBI chief on the recommendation of the US Attorney General. Then in an interview he contradicted this and said the decision was entirely his own. The White House is playing fast and loose with the truth, Corriere della Sera criticises:

“Trump is revolutionising the White House's way of doing politics and communication, from his off-the-cuff tweets to groundless assertions which Trump's counsellor Kellyanne Conway then attempts to justify with the term 'alternative facts'. But in such a grave and almost unparalleled case as the sacking of the head of the FBI, the White House has outdone itself by giving a reason for Comey's dismissal which immediately came across as implausible, making it necessary to replace it with a new version the very next day.”

With Comey's dismissal the US president is further undermining US democracy, NRC Handelsblad writes angrily:

“Trump can now simply appoint a successor who has the power to stop the Russia investigations. The proposal for the new FBI chief comes from Jeff Sessions of all people, the justice minister who had to withdraw from the Russia investigations because he himself had kept silent about a meeting with the Russian ambassador. … Comey's dismissal is a tactical error because it fuels distrust. Even more alarming is that it highlights once more Trump's contempt for the democratic system. … The question now is how resilient American democracy is. If Trump's party colleagues go back to business as usual for fear of losing their grip on power, cynicism will have won the day. If, however, they approve a special investigation of the Russia affair they will do democracy and the United States' image a service.”

The case of former president Richard Nixon should serve as a warning to Trump, El Periódico de Catalunya warns:

“Voices from the White House are calling for the investigations into the growing suspicions of ties with Russia to be stopped. But what urgently needs to be properly clarified is how much truth there is to the accusations that have been made. If this case with its intriguing aspects that affect US national security is dropped now, this would only fuel distrust and the sense of insecurity. Nixon also tried to sweep everything under the carpet in the Watergate scandal. Seven months after firing his investigator he was forced to leave the White House.”

Trump will also encounter opposition from his fellow Republicans, Helsingin Sanomat predicts:

“This is no longer about investigating attempts to influence elections or about mutual dependencies, but about the very foundation of the rule of law in the US. Many Republicans already had their doubts about the activities of the Russians in Trump's campaign, but his attempt to stop a government investigation goes one step too far for many of them. The pressure on Trump to allow an independent investigation of the Russia affair is increasing. At the same time the tensions between influential Republican senators and Trump are growing. The president is dependent on the Senate as regards both foreign policy and appointments. But the Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate. If the general mood turns even more against Trump now, the senators may also be more willing to oppose him.”

Trump has once again proven that he's a guy who gets things done, comments The Irish Times mockingly:

“He promised instant drama - millions of illegal migrants rounded up on day one; Muslims banned from entering the US; the big beautiful wall rising on the Rio Grande. Reality has been very slow to comply with his orders. He and his fans needed a sugar rush, an intoxicating hit, an instant high. Trump's instinctive gamble has always been that his fans would be happy to live vicariously through him. His self-gratification gratifies their own desires. He is for them a kind of self-fulfilment, a figure of untrammelled power who doesn't have to abide by rules, who can grope anyone he wants and fire anyone he wants.”