The travel ban affecting people from seven mostly Muslim countries that Donald Trump implemented the other day was brilliant politics. Even though he has never been a politician, Trump is outmaneuvering the Washington establishment with ease.

Think of all of the benefits to Trump of the executive order that implemented the ban:

• Trump did it himself and did not have to rely on Congress. He shows that he can get things done without them
• It was implemented during his first 10 days in office, showing that he can act fast
• It probably won’t stand up in court, so he can reap the political gain from the ban without having to deal with any long term consequences, economic or otherwise
• The turmoil around the ban distracts attention from anything else the Trump administration or Congress is doing
• The ban has no effect on 99.99% of Americans. In fact, most would probably support closer scrutiny of people coming from those countries, just because they are paranoid about terrorism
• The ban energized the left into protesting.
  • Trump will belittle the protests, showing that he can beat them
  • The average American will not relate to the protests for reasons described above, showing that the protesters don’t really represent them
  • At some point, the left, the media and the American people will get protest fatigue. These protests just move us closer to that point

The Washington Post instituted a Pinocchio-based fact checker. Trump may be a Pinocchio, but he’s also doing a masterful job of pulling Washington’s strings right now.