A dark, troubled cloud has descended upon the nation’s White House. Donald Trump has become so erratic that his staff walks around on egg shells. They see the man running this country yelling at the television screens for revealing scandal after scandal. Trump has even looked back at “old grudges” and also told his friend he does not know “whom to trust.”
The man in the Oval Office just lost his closest friend, communications director and sounding board, Hope Hicks. She was like a daughter, and she has been with him since before his presidential campaign. Now, his friends have been urging one another to talk to the president to raise his spirits.
The staff wondered what will happen when the angry, isolated president falls further into his well of despair and insecurity. An official said, according to The Washington Post:
‘We haven’t bottomed out.’
The Washington Post reported that Trump supporter and Republican National Committee fundraiser said:
‘Losing people is too much of a story for the president. It just seems like it’s imploding . . . Trump had momentum with tax reform, the State of the Union speech. He should try to keep that going.’
Trump does not manage logically or thoughtfully. Instead, he operates at a purely emotional level. He attacked his own Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions, shocked his economic advisers by introducing a trade war, and wobbled back-and-forth on the gun control issue.
After Trump obsessed about cable news and “perceived slights,” his friends worried about Trump’s stability. One of them said “Pure madness.”
Retired four-star Army general Barry McCaffrey warned the American People and Congress:
‘I think the president is starting to wobble in his emotional stability and this is not going to end well. Trump’s judgment is fundamentally flawed, and the more pressure put on him and the more isolated he becomes, I think, his ability to do harm is going to increase.’
A Republican strategist, who often talks to the White House staff, said:
‘Morale is the worst it’s ever been. Nobody knows what to expect.’
Special Counsel Robert Mueller III’s Russia investigation has begun to squeeze the president’s closest circle. He interviewed Hicks, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and by the end of January, 50 additional White House staff members.
Kushner lost his temporary security clearance and access to the top secrets. Yet, Trump believes the Americans have begun to grasp his switch-and-bait lie:
‘Democrats, (not) his campaign, colluded with the Russians.’
The president raged when he saw a photo of Sessions at a very public dinner with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, and one more top DOJ (Department of Justice) prosecutor. Trump will never forgive his AG for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, even though Session was following the law.
Fox News Channel showed a segment about actor and comedian Alec Baldwin saying he was tired of doing his Trump impersonation for NBC’s SNL (Saturday Night Live). The president could not even resist tweeting about that:
‘It was agony for those who were forced to watch.’
Perhaps, Trump is the one in agony.
Feature Image via Getty Images/Spencer Platt.
