Word is on the very first day of President Donald Trumps "excellent adventure" overseas, his retinue of hangers-on and quislings began whispering in the ears of the hated media that the man who claimed Hillary Clinton didn't have the "stamina" to be president was himself already "exhausted," and thus physically incapable of delivering a highly anticipated address to his hosts in the early evening of the second day of his visit.
Perhaps the president's "exhaustion" was brought on by the "stress" of being forced to fly across the globe on one of the most comfortable and well-appointed airplanes on earth, where great food (including five-layer chocolate cake with two scoops of ice cream) was available at the snap of his quasi-royal fingers.
Or perhaps the "exhaustion" was triggered by his trying to keep all his "flips" involving the Middle East from "flopping" over and accidentally whacking him on the side of his head.
For example, we all remember his snarky rebuke of Michelle Obama for not covering her head when she accompanied her husband to Riyadh last year.
Of course (flip), neither did his wife and daughter during his visit (flop).
A second example of flip-flopping was his insistence during his campaign that because "Islam hates us" it was cowardly of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton not to utter the phrase, "radical Islamic terrorism" right in the faces of Middle Eastern royalty.
But that was then, and this is now, so when President Trump found himself face to face with the men many believe sat by silent and allowed the 9/11 bombing to occur in 2001, not only did he not utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism," he instead effusively praised Islam as one the "great faiths" of the world (flip), and therefore never came close to even whispering the words "radical Islamic terrorism" (flop).
Perhaps, however, the most egregious flip-flop from President Trump during his trip was his ceaseless mocking last year of President Obama "appearing" to bend ever so slightly at his waist toward the Saudi King during his visit (flip) versus Trump's own deep bend toward the King when presented with a shiny silver bauble hanging on a bright gold chain (flop).
But while luxurious travel to exotic lands, flip-flopping on issue after issue, and even deep-waist bending in return for shiny trinkets can all possibly trigger physical exhaustion in a 70 year old senior citizen whose two main forms of exercise consist of picking up and putting down his dessert fork and using a TV remote clicker to change channels, more exhausting still is having to tell the truth 100 percent of the time.
The fact is Donald Trump, scion to riches; Donald Trump, Wharton grad; Donald Trump, fledgling businessman; Donald Trump, developer; Donald Trump, man about town; Donald Trump, casino owner; Donald Trump, reality TV personality; and Donald Trump, product brand could and did play fast and loose with the truth and the facts his entire life and career and got away with it.
Moreover, in all these different iterations, Donald Trump faced minimal blowback when he fudged, obfuscated, twisted, and yes, even outright lied about what was real and what wasn't.
If a 58 story building became a 68 story building, whom did it hurt?
If a complete failure of a business enterprise was reframed to appear to be a win, who is to know?
If TV ratings sank year after year yet were sold to viewers and sponsors as still top of the heap, who was the wiser?
And if thousands and thousands of lawsuits large and small morphed into a symbol of management toughness rather than a sign of business ineptitude, so what?
I believe the president's exhaustion is mental, not physical.
I believe the appropriate, yet relentless, efforts by the media to pursue and reveal to the public each and every inconsistency in Trump's words and deeds since the first day of his presidency has caused Trump to suffer a "truth breakdown" that people wrongly believe is physical exhaustion.
The truth matters when you're president.
For Trump to survive he must embrace the alien notion that the truth really can set him free.
It's up to him. Period. End of story.