What did Donald Trump do today?

More damage control.

Trump spent his 73rd birthday trying to manage the fallout from his admission that he would welcome foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 campaign. In that now-infamous interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Trump scoffed at law enforcement officials (including his own hand-picked FBI director) who said that any such interference was a crime that needed to be reported, saying sarcastically, "Oh, let me call the FBI. Give me a break! Life doesn't work that way."

That was the context for a tweet he wrote this afternoon:

Thank you Senator @MarshaBlackburn for fighting obstructionist Democrats led by Cryin' Chuck Schumer. Democrats continue to look for a do-over on the Mueller Report and will stop at nothing to distract the American people from the great accomplishments of this Administration!

Blackburn is one of a relatively small number of Republicans still defending Trump on the subject of foreign election interference. The bill she blocked was introduced by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). It would require American political campaigns to report attempts by foreign agents to offer "information or services." This is already illegal under existing law, but the specific language would make it easier to prosecute collusion between campaigns and illegal foreign collaborators.

Trump's previous attempts to get election help from Russia, public and secret, would not be prosecutable under this new law—unless he did it again.

Who cares?

• The sanctity of American elections is more important than Donald Trump getting foreign help to stay president.