For Trump 'A War Everyday, Fought Increasingly Alone' - New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/us/politics/trump-two-years.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage_________________________________________________________________________________________
By Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman
Dec. 22, 2018
WASHINGTON When President Trump grows frustrated with advisers during meetings, which is not an uncommon occurrence, he sits back in his chair, crosses his arms and scowls. Often he erupts. Freaking idiots! he calls his aides. Except he uses a more pungent word than freaking.
For two years, Mr. Trump has waged war against his own government, convinced that people around him are fools. Angry that they resist his wishes, uninterested in the details of their briefings, he becomes especially agitated when they tell him he does not have the power to do what he wants, which makes him suspicious that they are secretly undermining him.
Now, the president who once declared that I alone can fix the system increasingly stands alone in a system that seems as broken as ever. The swirl of recent days a government shutdown, spiraling scandals, tumbling stock markets, abrupt troop withdrawals and the resignation of his alienated defense secretary has left the impression of a presidency at risk of spinning out of control.
At the midpoint of his term, Mr. Trump has grown more sure of his own judgment and more cut off from anyone elses than at any point since taking office. He spends ever more time in front of a television, often retreating to his residence out of concern that he is being watched too closely. As he sheds advisers at a head-spinning rate, he reaches out to old associates, complaining that few of the people around him were there at the beginning.
Mr. Trump is said by advisers to be consumed by the multiplying investigations that have taken down his personal lawyer, campaign chairman, national security adviser and family foundation. He rails against enemies, who often were once friends, nursing a deep sense of betrayal and grievance as they turn on him.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,015 posts)WASHINGTON When President Trump grows frustrated with advisers during meetings, which is not an uncommon occurrence, he sits back in his chair, crosses his arms and scowls. Often he erupts. Freaking idiots! he calls his aides. Except he uses a more pungent word than freaking.
For two years, Mr. Trump has waged war against his own government, convinced that people around him are fools. Angry that they resist his wishes, uninterested in the details of their briefings, he becomes especially agitated when they tell him he does not have the power to do what he wants, which makes him suspicious that they are secretly undermining him.
Now, the president who once declared that I alone can fix the system increasingly stands alone in a system that seems as broken as ever. The swirl of recent days a government shutdown, spiraling scandals, tumbling stock markets, abrupt troop withdrawals and the resignation of his alienated defense secretary has left the impression of a presidency at risk of spinning out of control.
At the midpoint of his term, Mr. Trump has grown more sure of his own judgment and more cut off from anyone elses than at any point since taking office. He spends ever more time in front of a television, often retreating to his residence out of concern that he is being watched too closely. As he sheds advisers at a head-spinning rate, he reaches out to old associates, complaining that few of the people around him were there at the beginning.
snip
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)RKP5637
(67,111 posts)Stuart G
(38,436 posts)...This is a very special article on Trump. He is becoming more isolated and more dependent on himself. In my honest opinion, not relying on advisors with lots of experience is not intelligent, but stupid. Very stupid. He has little experience on the political and governmental scene and he needs those with lots of experience. The last thing he needs is to be is " more cut off from anyone else than at any point since taking office."
pat_k
(9,313 posts)His unshakable belief in his superiority in every area protects his eggshell ego. The more threatened, the more he will cling to his fantasy of superiority, and the more he will resist efforts to "control him" ... He will increasingly go in the opposite direction of anyone who challenges him.
Our peril is becoming more and more grave as his decompensates.
oldlibdem
(330 posts)Fuck him and his gun-humper base! he is bonkers and unfit to serve!