Meanwhile, as the border crisis spirals, the absence of a coordinated policy process has allowed the most extreme administration voices to fill the vacuum. White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has all but become the face of the issue, a development that even supporters of Trump's "zero-tolerance" position say is damaging the White House. "Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border," an outside White House adviser said. "He's a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There's always been a way he's gone about this. He's Waffen-SS."

Christopher Moore: "What's the German expression for Tender Age Shelters? They might be able to re-purpose the old signs." (Apparently Jugendkonzentrationslager, but I haven't found a good picture of a sign.)

Apparently Sean Spicer has an Instagram account.

Outside Trump Hotel, an Uproar. Inside, a Calm Sea of Conservative Cash.

At the hotel, he spoke for an hour to 150 supporters -- about half of whom were donors who paid $100,000 to $250,000 to attend a two-day summit meeting organized by America First Action, the "super PAC" formed to support Mr. Trump and allied candidates.

Outside, the world was cloudy. Beyond the hotel's walls, protesters blasted audio of children crying in detainment centers. Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security, was heckled at a nearby Mexican restaurant. In the days before, an anti-Trump group had projected the words "Over 3,000 children taken from their parents" onto the hotel facade.

But inside, all was well.

"Does anybody here look stressed out?" the conservative commentator Candace Owens asked as she surveyed the lobby. [...]

Sensitive to campaign finance rules barring federal officials from soliciting donations greater than $5,400, the White House has been careful to call these events gatherings with supporters, not fund-raisers, although they have a similar effect. The event this week felt like a conference, with several panels geared toward foreign policy, "America First" messaging and a healthy disdain for the news media. [...]

Mr. Hamm has donated $1 million to America First Action through personal and corporate accounts. Mr. Weiser, who has donated $200,000, said he suspected the event raised "a lot" of money. [...]

"We have to give the impression that our laws matter," he said. "I think conservatism is the new counterculture."