In the final days, he's coming off the rails

 A theme running through a lot of my recent posts has been the Very Stable Genius's penchant for self-sabotage. There's this one and this one. 

Since getting sprung from Walter Reed, he's continued the pattern. Actually, it would be most apt to say that he's continued the pattern "on steroids," because that may well be literally the case.

With no downside to continuing the Pelosi-Mnuchin stimulus negotiations, the VSG up and pulls the plug:

President Donald Trump has ordered his negotiators to halt talks over a new stimulus package, after the two sides have struggled for months to reach a deal, a stunning move that puts an end to last-ditch efforts for a major economic relief package as millions are reeling from the coronavirus crisis.

"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon.

Trump's message stunned lawmakers -- especially since Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been trading proposals and negotiating for days in the hopes of narrowing their differences, though they were still far apart in their talks.

The decision to pull the plug on the talks is a major blow to Americans still struggling with the fallout from the once-in-a century pandemic and endangers an economic recovery that for months was driven by the initial $2.2 trillion stimulus passed by Congress in the spring. With that money largely spent and gone, economists -- including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a renewed plea for action Tuesday -- have warned more support is imperative in the months ahead. 

The timing of Trump's sudden move perplexed even Republicans since there was little downside politically to allowing the talks to continue to play out. Now, they fear, that Trump's decision will make it easier for Democrats to pit the blame squarely on the White House for the collapse of the talks as many voters are eager for more relief from Washington.

As Nate Silver says on Twitter:

Nate Silver

@NateSilver538

Wait, so Trump not only rejects stimulus funds that would probably have helped his re-election chances, but *also* does so in a way to make sure that he personally will take blame for it?

And this is pretty obviously a political hail-mary: overriding FDA standards for authorizing a vaccine. Rigorous assurance of a drug's efficacy by experts be damned! There's an election to be won! 

A couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump's rhetoric about a coronavirus vaccine took a weird turn. "We will have a vaccine so soon, you won't even believe it," the president told supporters in Jacksonville, "although they are trying to do a little bit of a political hit. 'Let's delay the vaccine just a little bit.' Did you notice that?"

The Republican didn't specify who, exactly, "they" were, but in context, Trump appeared to be referring to the FDA's new standardsfor emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine. In the interest of public safety and public confidence, the FDA made clear that its standards would be stringent.

A day later, Trump said he was prepared to reject the FDA's tougher vaccine guidelines, all of which led to the president's conspiracy theory about "their" decision to "delay the vaccine" as part of "a political hit" -- because in his mind, the FDA applying high standards to a vaccine must be part of an election scheme.

Overnight, the New York Times reported that Trump is no longer just threatening to reject the FDA's vaccine standards, the White House is now actively blocking them.

He's been on quite a tear for a guy who's supposed to be convalescing from a dangerous virus. 

Oh, and this is noteworthy: at least one of the five military guys tasked with custody of the nuclear-goes football has tested positive for COVID-19.