What in the world is going on with Trump publicly trashing his attorney general?

Sessions was the first name-brand legislator to endorse Trump, has been one of his most loyal supporters, and by most accounts has been doing a fine job at Justice, thank you very much. The two main supposed Trump rationales, improper recusal and failure to go after team Hillary, don’t add up. Sessions had perfectly good reasons for recusing himself once it became clear that the investigation was focused on possible Trump/Russia collusion during the election. He was intimately involved in the campaign, so the potential conflict was an obvious trigger of the recusal section of the Justice Department handbook. And it was Trump himself who did a 180 and took Hillary off the hook after the election.

A firestorm of speculation has been set off. The assertion of the media, Dems and even some GOP senators is that Trump is simply nuts. He is not. The smartest guys in the room have more involved tactical explanations. He wants Sessions to quit so he can appoint someone who would fire Mueller; he wants to set the stage for a recess appointment; he wants to cow Sessions into investigating Hillary and/or firing Mueller himself; he wants Sessions to “unrecuse” himself until there is a criminal aspect to Mueller’s work; and many variations on the theme.

But these don’t pass the head-scratching test either. Trump doesn’t need an excuse to fire Sessions, and the recusal has been around for months, so why would it all of a sudden become an issue? True, Trump has good reason to be frustrated at the continuing Russian probe. First because the special counsel appointment was bogus since there was no crime alleged, and now because the probe is expanding (as they all do) into areas that have zero to do with possible Russian meddling, like Trump business in Russia 20 years ago. And evidence of more blatant Clinton-Russian involvement is being ignored. But trashing Sessions does not logically follow.

The high probability answer has to do with who/what Trump is. He is at heart a clever negotiator, a deal guy, and one of the best media savvy manipulators around. Consider what the responses have been. Sessions’ GOP legislative colleagues have leaped to his defense. Understandable, if a tad over the top. But the reaction of the Dems and the media has been priceless. Now that he seems to be in Trump’s crosshairs, Sessions has magically morphed from a bigoted red neck with a Star/Bar middle name with Klan connections who has a complete lack of respect for the Rule of Law into a principled American hero of courage and integrity.

Trump has not only masterfully put the Dems and the media in a box — it would be the height of hypocrisy to flip flop again on Sessions if he were to open a probe of the Clintons — but he has communicated through the media with Sessions what investigations he would like to see initiated without having any direct fingerprints on it. It’s Trump’s way of negotiating with all parties and manipulating a gullible press desperate for anything anti-Trump into doing his bidding.

Sessions has no intention of quitting, and Trump has no intention of firing him; they are in this together. You can argue that the tactic of bashing his AG in public was a bit over the top, but it has served its purpose. Sessions is preparing to launch the probes that Trump wants, and the charade of public scolding has endeared Sessions to an opposition that will have a tough time protesting. Negotiation via the press, and media manipulation at its best.

Bill Wagner is a private investor in and advisor to early stage companies.