Emphatically not. There is a fundamental difference between Trump playing the press and Trump wholesale lying about a cabinet member. Trump’s history of playing the press is famous and well documented. It’s five-star entertainment to see him in action; he has it down to a fine art.
Trump’s media misdirection never, ever involves serial lies. He has worked long and hard to cement his reputation as a straight-shooter who says what he means and means what he says. There is zero evidence that his harsh, stinging criticisms of Sessions have all been an act. *That* is where the subjective opinion comes in: when people insist that the traditionally honest Trump has suddenly taken to saying the opposite of what he means.
Trump floated the idea of firing Sessions. The Senate got its collective underwear in a wad. They threatened Trump with “____ hell,” and even Grassley got into the act, vowing straight up that the Senate would never approve a replacement.
Mueller has been dishonest, dirty and Leftist for decades. Rosenstein participated in a felony, the purpose of which was to illegally throw the election to Hillary.
Sessions is the sole reason Mueller and Rosenstein are actively, as I post, destroying the Trump presidency. Jeff’s treachery will go down in the history books as unprecedented. He is a snake in the grass.
Not by a bystander's measure of how they think it's doing in the oven.
I don’t think it is any coincidence that DJT named his book The art of the deal. Much like The art of war. Here is one quote:
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
– Sun Tzu, the Art of War
DJT has fired many of his staff, but I don’t recall a single time that he first sent out mean tweets, or went to the press. No, he instead fires them and then tweets out nice things about them. Also, when there is someone he wants to defeat, and can’t fire, like you are claiming, he gives them a deadly nickname. Li’l Rubio, Crooked Hillary. What nickname has he given Sessions?
One more thing, at his rallies he made it very clear that war is about deception, calling out Obama for giving the date he was going to pull out troops, and then he said, ok, he is trying to fool them, but then he pulled them out on that date anyway!