Thursday, January 07, 2021

25th Amendment Discussed, As Aides Describe An Enraged Trump Acting Like "A Total Monster"; In Recent Days, He Has Expressed Anarchist Comments In Private

Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Shane Harris and Ashley Parker, Washington Post, January 6, 2021
President Trump was decamped in the White House residence Wednesday night, raging about his perceived betrayals, as an array of top aides weighed resigning and some senior administration officials began conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment — an extraordinary measure that would remove the president before Trump's term expires on Jan. 20.

A deep, simmering unease coursed through the administration over the president's refusal to accept his election loss and his role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol . . . One administration official described Trump's behavior Wednesday as that of "a monster," while another said the situation was "insane" and "beyond the pale." . . .

People who interacted with Trump on Wednesday said they found him in a fragile and volatile state. He spent the afternoon and evening cocooned at the White House . . . "He's got a bunker mentality now, he really does," the close adviser said. . . .

Trump resisted entreaties from some of his advisers to condemn the marauders and refused to be reasoned with. "He kept saying: 'The vast majority of them are peaceful. What about the riots this summer? What about the other side? No one cared when they were rioting. My people are peaceful. My people aren't thugs,'" an administration official said. "He didn't want to condemn his people."

"He was a total monster today," this official added . . .

White House aides tried to get Trump to call into Fox News Channel, but he refused. He at first did not want to say anything, but was persuaded to send some tweets. Then they scripted a video message for him to record, which he agreed to distribute on Twitter. But the president ad-libbed by including references to false voter fraud claims that they had asked him not to include . . . Twitter later locked his account, enraging the president. . . .

"He's so driven by this notion that he's been treated unfairly . . ."

This official described Trump as so mad at Pence "he couldn't see straight." . . .

A former senior administration official briefed on the president’s private conversations said: "The thing he was most upset about and couldn't get over all day was the Pence betrayal. … All day, it was a theme of, 'I made this guy, I saved him from a political death, and here he stabbed me in the back.'" . . .

Another former senior administration official [said Trump] "acted like a toddler" . . .

"They're Being Told To Stay Away From Trump": After A Day Of Violence And 25th Amendment Chatter, Trump's Allies Are Jumping Ship
Gabriel Sherman, Vanity Fair, January 7, 2021

As the violent mob incited by President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday . . . White House Counsel Pat Cipollone was urging White House officials not to speak to Trump or enable his coup attempt in any way, so they could reduce the chance they could be prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. . . .

Trump is increasingly isolated and alone. According to a person close to the White House, Trump refused to take calls on Wednesday from business leaders who wanted him to call off the insurrectionists. . . . 

In recent days, as Trump's bid to overturn the election became increasingly desperate, he expressed anarchist comments in private, a second Republican close to the White House told me. The Republican said Trump told people that he wanted David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to lose the Georgia Senate runoff election as a way of punishing them and Mitch McConnell. . . . According to the Republican, Trump has said he'll be the most dominant force in Republican politics if there's no party leadership. . . .

"He'll want to burn the whole thing down," a Republican strategist said. "Trump doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself. . . . Everyone is blaming Trump for Georgia. When Trump took office, we had the White House and both branches of Congress. Now we have nothing. He inherited a Lamborghini and treated it like a lawn mower."


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