It came as a rare combination of forces collided, ultimately moving the stubborn commander in chief: political pushback from Republicans in Congress, including typically staunch allies; private pressure from his family members, including his eldest daughter and his wife; and, most importantly, wall-to-wall media coverage broadcasting to the country images of frightened children and the sounds of their sobs from inside government-run facilities.

“Trump has proved remarkably impervious to elite and media criticism, but even he couldn’t withstand this,” said Rich Lowry, editor of National Review. “The new policy is a tactical retreat in hopes of regaining political traction, but family separations of the sort we’ve seen over the last couple of months are not going to return.”…

“Trump creates his own crises, so he can solve them, and in this case be a hero,” said Jack O’Donnell, the former president and chief operating officer of the Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, who has become a critic of his former boss. “Even if that was not the original intent, he plays on the fly, turns bad optics into him looking like a hero.”