COMMENT | When Donald Trump occupied the White House four years ago, he was all on fire. He was determined to clean up Washington seen as a cesspool of iniquity and corruption.

Trump took pride in being an outsider who has beaten all the odds to get elected as president and regarded his victory as a mandate to wash away all the dirt in the intensely political city.

It was a losing battle. The Washington establishment was too tough a nut to crack. It has a long tradition of zealously protecting its turf against any encroachment from the Oval Office and expects every incoming president to dance to its tune.

Practically from day one, Trump went to war against the Washington class, whom he regarded as "bad people" who were ruining America. He has turned his Oval Office into a war room from where he has launched relentless Twitter attacks on all and sundry. His larger missiles were aimed at the press he roundly condemned as producers of fake news.

All presidents, especially those in recent times, are aware that the establishment in Washington is a force to be reckoned with...