Inside Trump’s Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation
- 6 years ago
Inside Trump’s Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation
Mr. Trump is an avid newspaper reader who still marks up a half-dozen papers with comments in black Sharpie pen, but Mr. Bannon has told allies
that Mr. Trump only “reads to reinforce.” Mr. Trump’s insistence on defining his own reality — his repeated claims, for example, that he actually won the popular vote — is immutable and has had a “numbing effect” on people who work with him, said Tony Schwartz, his ghostwriter on “The Art of the Deal.”
“He wears you down,” Mr. Schwartz said.
Once this fall, Mr. Trump lashed out at an aide he had not seen for weeks, asking, “Where the hell have you been?” When the aide told him
that Mr. Kelly had limited the meetings he could attend, the president cooled off and said, “Oh, O. K.,” according to an aide told of the exchange.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the president opined, would definitely run — “even if he’s
in a wheelchair,” Mr. Trump added, making a scrunched-up body of a man in a wheelchair.
Despite chafing at the limits, the president actually craves the approval of Mr. Kelly, whom he sees as a peer, people close to Mr. Trump said.
To the adviser who recounted it, the story revealed what Mr. Trump expected being president
would be like — ruling by fiat, exacting tribute and cutting back room deals.
Mr. Trump, Mr. Kelly and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, met for more than an hour on Nov. 1
as Ms. Pirro whipped up the president against Mr. Mueller and accused James B. Comey, the former F. B.I.
Several advisers said the president may curse them for a minor transgression — like bringing an unknown aide
into his presence without warning — then make amiable small talk with the same person minutes later.
Mr. Trump is an avid newspaper reader who still marks up a half-dozen papers with comments in black Sharpie pen, but Mr. Bannon has told allies
that Mr. Trump only “reads to reinforce.” Mr. Trump’s insistence on defining his own reality — his repeated claims, for example, that he actually won the popular vote — is immutable and has had a “numbing effect” on people who work with him, said Tony Schwartz, his ghostwriter on “The Art of the Deal.”
“He wears you down,” Mr. Schwartz said.
Once this fall, Mr. Trump lashed out at an aide he had not seen for weeks, asking, “Where the hell have you been?” When the aide told him
that Mr. Kelly had limited the meetings he could attend, the president cooled off and said, “Oh, O. K.,” according to an aide told of the exchange.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the president opined, would definitely run — “even if he’s
in a wheelchair,” Mr. Trump added, making a scrunched-up body of a man in a wheelchair.
Despite chafing at the limits, the president actually craves the approval of Mr. Kelly, whom he sees as a peer, people close to Mr. Trump said.
To the adviser who recounted it, the story revealed what Mr. Trump expected being president
would be like — ruling by fiat, exacting tribute and cutting back room deals.
Mr. Trump, Mr. Kelly and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, met for more than an hour on Nov. 1
as Ms. Pirro whipped up the president against Mr. Mueller and accused James B. Comey, the former F. B.I.
Several advisers said the president may curse them for a minor transgression — like bringing an unknown aide
into his presence without warning — then make amiable small talk with the same person minutes later.