This terrific malaphor was uttered both by former Senator Robert Torricelli and by Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC last week (1/24 at 9:11 am to be exact).  They were both talking about the many interviews in Trump’s inner circle by the Mueller team and that those interviews are trying to rattle Trump’s tree.  This is a congruent conflation of “shake (someone’s) tree” and”rattle (someone’s) cage”, both meaning to purposefully unnerve or upset someone.  The speakers might have been thinking of the song “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” when they burped up this one.  Or perhaps they were thinking of those giant mechanical devices that rattle almonds out of almond trees.  Who knows what lurks in the mental crevices of one’s brain?  A big thanks to the Comedian Frank King for hearing this one!