Take a pick on check and balance, Mr. Trump!

Nothing seems to be going right for the Trump presidency ever since its inaugural on January, 20. "Peaceful transfer of power" was mechanical; street protests watering down the solemnity of the occasion. And, what made a mockery of the show was an attempted fabrication of the crowd size in and around the vast inauguration concourse.

Then the Oval Office overnight turned into a super CEO apparatus, dishing out a record number of executive orders, including that on a travel ban on listed Muslim countries, which drew instant ire. Such a discriminatory approach to travel solely based on religious grounds has upset the time-tested dynamic of evenhanded, humanitarian and compassionate acceptance of migrating refugees by host countries. 

The negative implications of quick-fire appeasement to far-right constituencies got the better of a rational judgment on the part of Trump, who hurried through clamping the ban. But this was entirely unnecessary given the existence of a supportive Congress for the Republican administration available for consultation whenever needed. 

Actually, questions have been asked by the appeals court dealing with the ban to the government attorney as to why prior consultation wasn't made with an appropriate authority to seek legal advice or indeed with the relevant committee of the Congress. For, this is an issue having racial and religious ramifications. In particular, why was sufficient notice of temporary suspension on migration not served on the receiving end? The government side admitted to a mistake on that count.

The defense attorney and the appeal court judge made a forceful point of demanding evidence on terrorism having been enacted by citizens of countries placed under the suspension order.

The good thing about the matter is that the order has been stayed until the process of adjudication ends. 

Whatever may be the verdict of the appeals court, it is destined to go to the Supreme Court. Where there should have been nine judges, with the death of one, there are eight judges in the SC. Four of them were Democratic appointees while the other four are Republican. Thus the SC verdict is going to be split in the middle. There must be a way out of the crisis.

In such a problematic context, President Trump conceded the point that there may be a subsequent president who will change it—chinks of self-doubt perhaps showing through the invincibility façade. Trump at times can be refreshingly self-analytical; he confesses to feeling "surreal", getting three to four hours of sleep at night.

As a matter of fact, the sooner the president realises the importance and efficacy of the check and balance system provided by the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the state, the better it will be for American democracy. 

The US president accuses Europe of a nudge-nudge and wink-wink approach to underplaying terrorist attacks. Most news agencies wedded to freedom of the press has called such accusation "absolute rubbish".

Trump's admiration for Putin is taking on a US-effacing overtone. Bill O' Reilly in a recent interview with the US president asked him how does he deal with Putin who is a "killer", referring to his allegedly ruthless treatment of dissidents. To this, Trump's reply was, "There are a lot of killers and our country is not so innocent." Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov wanted an apology from the Fox News anchor who had called Putin a killer.

To share a joke, a 73-year-old lady said in Britain that Putin might have been alleged to be "a killer", but Trump is "a home wrecker because my husband voted for him, and I divorced him."

Controversy also surrounds the US president's state visit to UK at the Queen's invitation delivered by Theresa May to Trump during her recent visit to the US. The House of Commons speaker John Bercow, has, meanwhile, said that Donald Trump was not welcome to address the House of Commons. Constitutionally, the speaker is capable of denying the US president an opportunity to speak to the Parliament. Whether he will do it is another matter though, given the British diplomatic finesse.  

From the US' president's side, however, it has referred to the visits to Britain of Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as well as Emirs of Qatar and Kuwait.

The US president better have his feet on the ground instead of being obsessed with undeliverable pledges. His populist misadventure has made him unpopular, to put it politely. The EU president, Tusk speaks of two threats to the world at the moment: One presented by ISIS and the other by Donald Trump. The bracketing is rather jarring, to say the least.  

The writer is contributor of The Daily Star.