I am writing this under duress.

Over nearly two decades as a reporter in Washington, DC, I’ve tried never to make myself the story — our job is to report the news, not make the news. First-person essays are just not my style.

But since the head of the Executive Branch decided to make me part of his story (and because the issue is what’s central here) I don’t have that luxury right now.

I had planned to get ready Thursday for a short late-afternoon flight to Sioux City, Iowa to cover the latest in President Donald Trump’s rally-a-day barnstorms to try and save his party — and himself — a great midterms embarrassment.…