BLOCKBUSTER- Vanity Fair Reporter Says White House Insiders And Trump Confidantes Have Told Him That Trump Is Losing It, Fast
One former official even speculated that Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have discussed what they would do in the event Trump ordered a nuclear first strike. “Would they tackle him?” the person said. Even Trump’s most loyal backers are sowing public doubts. This morning, The Washington Post quoted longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack saying he has been “shocked” and “stunned” by Trump’s behavior.
At first it sounded like hyperbole, the escalation of a Twitter war. But now it’s clear that Bob Corker’s remarkable New York Times interview—in which the Republican senator described the White House as “adult day care” and warned Trump could start World War III—was an inflection point in the Trump presidency. It brought into the open what several people close to the president have recently told me in private: that Trump is “unstable,” “losing a step,” and “unraveling.”
The conversation among some of the president’s longtime confidantes, along with the character of some of the leaks emerging from the White House has shifted. There’s a new level of concern. NBC News published a report that Trump shocked his national security team when he called for a nearly tenfold increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal during a briefing this summer. One Trump adviser confirmed to me it was after this meeting disbanded that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron.”
In recent days, I spoke with a half dozen prominent Republicans and Trump advisers, and they all describe a White House in crisis as advisers struggle to contain a president who seems to be increasingly unfocused and consumed by dark moods. Trump’s ire is being fueled by his stalled legislative agenda and, to a surprising degree, by his decision last month to back the losing candidate Luther Strange in the Alabama Republican primary. “Alabama was a huge blow to his psyche,” a person close to Trump said. “He saw the cult of personality was broken.”
According to two sources familiar with the conversation, Trump vented to his longtime security chief, Keith Schiller, “I hate everyone in the White House! There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!” (A White House official denies this.) Two senior Republican officials said Chief of Staff John Kelly is miserable in his job and is remaining out of a sense of duty to keep Trump from making some sort of disastrous decision. Today, speculation about Kelly’s future increased after Politico reported that Kelly’s deputy Kirstjen Nielsen is likely to be named Homeland Security Secretary—the theory among some Republicans is that Kelly wanted to give her a soft landing before his departure.
One former official even speculated that Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have discussed what they would do in the event Trump ordered a nuclear first strike. “Would they tackle him?” the person said. Even Trump’s most loyal backers are sowing public doubts. This morning, The Washington Post quoted longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack saying he has been “shocked” and “stunned” by Trump’s behavior.
While Kelly can’t control Trump’s tweets, he is doing his best to physically sequester the president—much to Trump’s frustration. One major G.O.P. donor told me access to Trump has been cut off, and his outside calls to the White House switchboard aren’t put through to the Oval Office. Earlier this week, I reported on Kelly’s plans to prevent Trump from mingling with guests at Mar-a-Lago later this month. And, according to two sources, Keith Schiller quit last month after Kelly told Schiller he needed permission to speak to the president and wanted written reports of their conversations.
The White House denies these accounts. “The President’s mood is good and his outlook on the agenda is very positive,” an official said.
West Wing aides have also worried about Trump’s public appearances, one Trump adviser told me. The adviser said aides were relieved when Trump canceled his appearance on the season premiere of 60 Minutes last month. “He’s lost a step. They don’t want him doing adversarial TV interviews,” the adviser explained. Instead, Trump has sat down for friendly conversations with Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee, whose daughter is Trump’s press secretary. (The White House official says the 60 Minutes interview is being rescheduled.)
Even before Corker’s remarks, some West Wing advisers were worried that Trump’s behavior could cause the Cabinet to take extraordinary Constitutional measures to remove him from office. Several months ago, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversation, former chief strategist Steve Bannon told Trump that the risk to his presidency wasn’t impeachment, but the 25th Amendment—the provision by which a majority of the Cabinet can vote to remove the president. When Bannon mentioned the 25th Amendment, Trump said, “What’s that?” According to a source, Bannon has told people he thinks Trump has only a 30 percent chance of making it the full term.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/donald-trump-is-unraveling-white-house-advisers
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One day all this is not t going to be a joke anymore.
Well, I'm laughing! This is VANITY FAIR! Get a grip!
Left wing fear mongering.
On North Korea: "My attitude is the one that matters" Trust him?
He says he's "tougher and stronger" than all the people who are giving him advice and ultimately he will do what's right for the country and the world.
Trust him? Trust this imbecile?
This is scaring the living hell out of me. It's my worst nightmare about this guy, the thing I was writing about from hevery beginning. Putting someone with this temperament and this childlike intellect in charge of the world's only superpower is a recipe for catastrophe.
We saw it. They did it anyway. And now they are letting him have enough rope to hang us all so that they can get their judges and their tax cuts. I don't know what good they'll do them when we're all dead but they don't seem to be able to think outside their tiny little ideological box long enough to contemplate that. FYI:
Yeah, but he sure is entertaining and he insults all the people his voters don't like. That's all that matters.
It's not a joke now. Trump is a clear and present danger to the Republic. He MUST be removed.
It never was. I have always taken the danger of having a less than intelligent, pathological liar and egomaniac in any position of power seriously.
Even Rush Limbaugh is worried that Trump is starting to lose it: ‘I am very uncomfortable'
Hey John, I suggest you buy a underground bomb shelter!
Why? Is your cave filled up with reactionary freaks?
Were these the same sources NBC used for its fake nuke story?
Re: Prof. Bandy Lee...
But despite Lee’s obsession with psycho-analyzing the president, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) actually cautioned psychologists from doing that very thing. In an August 2016 newsletter on its website, as the presidential election campaign was in high gear, the APA suggested that it would be both “unethical” and “irresponsible” to impair the credibility of the psychiatric profession by rendering ad hoc assessments of political candidates.
“Every four years, the United States goes through a protracted elections process for the highest office in the land. This year, the election seems like anything but a normal contest, that has at times devolved into outright vitriol,” the posting reads. “The unique atmosphere of this year’s election cycle may lead some to want to psychoanalyze the candidates, but to do so would not only be unethical, it would be irresponsible.”
We should not be surprised by this woman’s pronouncements. She is using a time-honored leftist tactic that was originally developed to send people to the Gulag if they disagreed with orthodox communist political thinking. If the “progressives” had their way, any breach of political correctness would be sufficient to send any of us to the Gulag.
“In the Soviet Union, a systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place and was based on the interpretation of political dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called “psychopathological mechanisms” of dissent. During the leadership of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, psychiatry was used as a tool to eliminate political opponents (“dissidents”) who openly expressed beliefs that contradicted official dogma.”
Are you trying to say you think Trump is perfectly normal?
Wow. That is quite a reach.
Most unqualified president in US history. Not even a close call.
LOL. The APA rescinded that guidance months ago and said that APA members are free to comment on Trump's mental health or his fitness for office.
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And quite a few psychiatrists have done so since then.....it seems there's a consensus that Trump is a sociopath with many other psychological problems.
We have Constitutional remedies for situations like this.
25th Amendment - they might scrape together 8 Secretaries and the Vice to pull it off. That would buy us a max of 3 weeks without Trump in charge. If they fail to get 2/3's support in the House and the Senate, then the President would be reinstated and the 8 Secretaries would be looking for work. Pence would be OK - you can't fire a VP.
This is the only legal option that might prevent a preemptive nuclear strike. You would need the VP and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments on speed dial.
Impeachment - vote wise an easier reach but it could take weeks - months to implement. Too late.
Bottled water, Spam, peanut butter, Ritz crackers, extra toilet paper and some cash are always good to have around.
Very interesting article!
Thanks, John!
Jeez, John, I see your fans are on full parade today. Looks like the gang is all here. Well, except one or two, maybe.
I've said this before, but I really think Trump exhibits all the symptoms of dementia. If that is the case, and I think it is because I see the same behaviors in Trump that I see in my father who has Alzheimer's, then the things he says and does are not his fault. He has demonstrated that he is unable to stop himself from doing and saying things that are harmful to this country, and to himself. That means that he has no business being POTUS. Frankly, if what I suspect is true, he should not hold any position of authority, and that includes authority over his own business affairs. It is truly a horrible disease, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Or he's just a sociopath with several other psychopathologies aggravated by dementia. His father did die from Alzheimer's.
I had no idea that Trump's father died from the complications of Alzheimer's. Hereditary factors regarding the disease are a serious concern for anyone with parents or siblings who suffer from it.
If he has been previously diagnosed with one of the many forms of dementia, it would make sense that he has steadfastly refused to release his medical records.
Notice how he has refused to release virtually ANY records? Health, tax, transcripts, he has refused to release them all. I would be satisfied by just one, but it should be concerning to everyone that he refuses to allow anyone to really examine him.
I kinda remember Obama did a lot of that. What, exactly, do you find in Trump's actions or words that would be cause for removal from office.
A well-known leftist Senator says this:
TILLERSON, MATTIS, AND KELLY ARE ONLY THING SAVING U.S. "FROM CHAOS...."