Trump embraces a political strategy of being in charge of everything but responsible for nothing when things go badly

It is among the most famous phrases in presidential history: “ The buck stops here .” Except with President Donald Trump , it almost never does.

Concerns about a weak economy and still-high inflation ? His predecessor, Joe Biden , saddled him with that, he says, even though the Democrat has been out of office for 18-plus months and despite Trump once promising an immediate turnaround.

The problem-plagued revamp of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ? That was marred by vandalism, the Republican president insists, even though the office of a prosecutor he put in the job has said the damage was due to shoddy workmanship .

The increasingly unpopular war in Iran that has kept oil prices high , Trump’s approval rating low and sent shock waves through the global economy? Actually, this was Trump making up for timid earlier presidents who, he argues, squandered nearly 50 years of opportunities to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Pithy slogans aside, all modern presidents shift responsibility onto others to some degree, frequently blaming the commander-in-chief who preceded them, Congress — or both.

But Trump has taken it to a new level, effectively embracing a de facto political strategy of being in charge of everything but responsible for nothing when things go badly.

“Taking responsibility being a characteristic of presidential leadership — or any kind of leadership — is absolutely true,” said Nicole Anslover, a history professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of “Harry S.

Truman: The Coming of the Cold War.” Trump’s tendency to point fingers at others is increasingly in the spotlight before November’s midterm elections , when Republicans are trying to retain control of Congress.

His unwillingness to accept blame sometimes leads him to deny that there are problems at all, and could leave GOP leaders in tight races with little reassurance for voters that their concerns are being addressed.

The White House counters that Trump is working to correct long-festering challenges, not simply throwing up his hands and ignoring them.

The president is “rightfully addressing the failures of his predecessors while taking action to deliver big wins for the American people,” spokesperson Taylor Rogers said, pointing to a series of policies that she said Republicans can run on, including tax cuts , efforts to lower prescription drug prices , cracking down on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border , increasing domestic energy production and a strong stock market.

Ducking responsibility dates to Trump’s first term Truman famously kept a “The Buck Stops Here” sign on his desk as president.