Donald Trump is a lonely, angry, bitter man adrift without the usual ego-feeding he relies on. Which we already knew, but is confirmed by a New York Times story based on information from “more than a dozen administration officials and close advisers.” The story is short on direct quotes but long on delicious, pathetic details.
Trump watches cable news for hours on end and “is angry even with Fox, an old security blanket, for not portraying him as he would like to be seen.” He dwells on his slide in the polls and takes calls from his campaign manager Brad Parscale to talk about it. Unfortunately, Trump’s unhappiness does not make the situation any better for the rest of us. We’re still living in the hell he created.
In March, Trump was so low and unhappy that when his MyPillow buddy Mike Lindell visited, Lindell tried to cheer him up by showing him a text from a Democratic-leaning friend who said he was doing a good job. “I just wanted to give him a little confidence,” Lindell said, and apparently a single text message from a random friend was the key.
Ego-feeding is the reason for the daily press briefing, too. Trump enjoys it, so it continues “although even Republicans say that the two hours of political attacks, grievances and falsehoods by the president are hurting him politically,” Katie Rogers and Annie Karni report. Does he bother to attend actual task force meetings? Rarely. Mostly, he takes his talking points right before the briefing starts, gives them short shrift during the briefing, and then runs his mouth about things like injecting disinfectants.
Having started his day with hours upon hours of television, Trump typically returns to it after the briefing, this time with company: “Assorted aides who are still around will join him to rehash the day and offer their assessments on the briefings. Comfort food—including French fries and Diet Coke—is readily available.” But hey, “occasionally” Trump has dinner with his wife and son. What a rich life.
Donald Trump had well over a month to keep us from this place, with an already horrific death toll that keeps climbing, an economy in shambles, and people around the country suffering. And still all he cares about is the fallout for his political future and the bad press coverage and the lack of opportunities to have his ego stroked in person.