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President Donald Trump is responding to a midterm election that represented a rebuke for his polarizing and aggressive behavior by recommitting to his brazen political style, setting up a turbulent two years to come.
Trump's busy weekend served as a microcosm for his presidency as a whole, as he seethed with insults, launched attacks on key figures who have criticized him and returned to fiery rhetoric on immigration.
In one spat, he unloaded on retired Adm. William McRaven, former head of Special Operations Command, and attacked the military for not having killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before 2011.
He also dismissed a Washington Post report that the CIA believes that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of the paper's journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a possible fresh example of the President ignoring his intelligence agencies when it conflicts with his political goals.
And Trump revived alarmist talk over a caravan of asylum seekers marching across Mexico toward the southern border, on which he anchored a midterm campaign that was laced with falsehoods and racism.
"The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, just stated that 'the City is ill-prepared to handle this many migrants, the backlog could last 6 months'" Trump tweeted on Sunday. "Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!"
And days after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders reacted to a court ordering the return of the confiscated credential of CNN's Jim Acosta by demanding "decorum," Trump blasted a vulgar tweet at a longtime foe.
"So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!" Trump wrote, referring to Adam Schiff, who will run the House Intelligence Committee next year.
For any other president, these attacks and comments would represent an extraordinary breach of White House norms.
For Trump, they reflect his own combative temperament and willingness to flout conventions and political correctness that he clearly believes are key to his strong bond with his most loyal supporters.
His jab at Schiff was also a reminder of how the Russia investigation, now thought to be in a critical stage, hovers over everything else that happens in Trump's presidency.
Trump said he will submit written answers to questions posed by Mueller about alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia this week.