Surrounded by a shrinking circle of aides, a brooding Trump lays into Pence

[webfact]

Surrounded by a shrinking circle of aides, a brooding Trump lays into Pence

By Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence stand while making remarks about early results from the 2020 U.S. presidential election in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has increasingly isolated himself in the White House, relying on a small group of diehard loyalists and lashing out at those who dare to cross him, including Vice President Mike Pence, said four sources familiar with the matter.

 

Some longtime advisers are steering clear of talking to Trump after he fired up hundreds of supporters who swarmed the U.S. Capitol in what even fellow Republicans called a deep stain on Trump's legacy.

 

The unprecedented breach of the Capitol building on Wednesday forced Pence and members of Congress to be evacuated just as they had convened to certify the 2020 election victory of President-elect Joe Biden over Trump. Four people died in the mayhem, including a woman shot by police.

 

"Don't want to," said one adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity, when asked if there had been any recent contact with the president.

 

Trump has repeatedly lambasted Pence, publicly and privately, for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's win, and has been seething at Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, for stating that Pence would perform his constitutional duty, the sources said.

 

This week Trump berated Pence to his face, one source said. The vice president's office declined to comment.

 

But Republican Senator Jim Inhofe told the Tulsa World newspaper he spoke to Pence on Wednesday night.

 

"I've known Mike Pence forever," he said. "I've never seen Pence as angry as he was today."

 

A former senior administration official said the rift between the two men was deep and they may never speak to each other again.

 

Pence, a former Indiana governor and former Republican lawmaker who harbors presidential ambitions, has been loyal to Trump throughout the president's four years in office.

 

A Pence adviser said "everyone around him is very proud of him" for how he performed his constitutional duty and that he had told Trump ahead of time what he planned to do.

 

"Mike Pence does not surprise the president. He was honest about what he was going to do," the adviser.

 

LOYALISTS 'EGGING HIM ON'

Trump was extremely agitated on Wednesday, moving from the Oval Office to the nearby private dining room, initially energized, but increasingly angry and closed off, said one source.

 

Trump was not allowing staff to help craft any messages earlier in the day on Wednesday. "It's not a controlled situation," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

On Thursday, Trump, a frequent golfer who owns several courses, gave the Medal of Freedom to Hall of Fame golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player. The ceremony, normally conducted in public, took place behind closed doors.

 

Trump has surrounded himself with an ever-smaller group of loyalists who cater to his whims, including digital director Dan Scavino, personal aide John McEntee, trade adviser Peter Navarro, speechwriter Stephen Miller, and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, one source said.

 

"It's sad. These are the people around him and egging him on," the source said, who also asked not to be identified.

 

The White House declined to comment.

 

It was Scavino who, after Congress certified Biden's victory, tweeted out a statement from Trump early on Thursday to say the president would go along with an orderly transition of power to Biden. Trump himself was suspended from Twitter at the time and could not send the tweet himself.

 

In the statement, Trump clung to the notion that the Nov. 3 election was rigged against him but acknowledged he would be leaving the White House on Biden's Inauguration Day.

 

"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on Jan. 20," he said.

 

The statement was seen by some close to the White House as an attempt to forestall a wave of resignations.

 

One former Trump White House official said the president had shown a failure in leadership for not immediately going on television to tell his supporters at the Capitol to stand down and leave.

 

"He has blood on his hands from yesterday. A woman died," he said.

 

There has been some talk among Cabinet members and allies about invoking the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a way to remove Trump from office, but a source familiar with that effort doubted it would take place given the short period of time left in his term.

 

Some White House officials, stunned by Trump's downward spiral in recent days, were debating whether to resign in protest or to stay for the last two weeks to ensure a proper transition to the Biden team, one aide said.

 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, on Thursday became the first Trump Cabinet member to quit since the Capitol siege.

 

Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg said Trump's temperament reflected his aversion to losing.

 

"This is him at the end, when he loses something. This is the way it is, the end," Nunberg said.

 

(Reporting By Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mary Milliken and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-08

 

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[Odysseus123]

'Downfall'

 

You've seen the movie-now be prepared to watch the re-make..

[sammieuk1]

Mike save what's left of your reputation and lay him out and post it on facebook please ????

[camble]

Trump is a clown entertaining for our amusement

[Tug]

It can’t be easy to be donalds door mat lap dog my advice to vp pence is to article 25 trump and when he’s dragged off having another (episode)don’t pardon him as we know every dog has his day pence included that would be some sweet revenge after beeing humiliated for the last 4 years

[Justgrazing]

No surprise this .. He's turned on just about everyone else who have failed to do his bidding as he see's it and kind of emphasise's why he was unsuited to the position from day one by placing personal loyalty to him come what may above the far more important requisite of doing what is right for America .. 

 

After what happened yesterday there must be serious debate about whether he should be removed from office for the final 13 odd days left , as Commander in Chief of the U S's armed forces he still exerts considerable power and given his unpredictably getting embroiled in a military strike is not what America needs at this moment .. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Justgrazing
Sp

[Thailand]

Oh dear, how sad.

 

Little child not getting it's way ,toys out of the pram and temper tantrums.

 

Please go, ASAP.

[Seth1a2a]

Awww .......... Poor kid,  Trump must have a tummy ache from swallowing all of that pride soup and shoe salad.

  I said it before. Kudos to Pence for keeping his finger in the dyke to help prevent a flood of other ill willed  attempts to undermine the principles of decency and democracy.

The way Trump seems to be channeling Benito, Pence may have actually saved Trump from the same fate as his hero Mussolini.

 

Apparently   "Lion" Trump now has a big thorn in his paw.

 

references:

“It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” Donald Trump recently retweeted a maxim dear to Mussolini, the Italian dictator known as Il Duce, raising quite a few eyebrows.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dear-trump-better-to-live_b_9355864

 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/american-authoritarianism-under-donald-trump/495263/

"An American Authoritarian"         2016
The Republican presidential candidate is not a Fascist, but his campaign bears notable similarities to the reign of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/historians-election-experts-warn-trump-behaving-like-mussolini-2020-9

Historians and election experts warn Trump is behaving like Mussolini and despots that the US usually condemns

 

[ExpatOK]

Biden will be president on Jan 20.  Time to move on.  That big meany Trump can't hurt you anymore.

[tonray]

Should be impeachment. 25th removal cannot prohibit him from holding office in the future....impeachment conviction can and should. Force Republican Senators to make a stand publicly on record after this  fiasco....use it against them in 2 years during midterm elections if they fail to convict.

[placeholder]

6 minutes ago, ExpatOK said:

Biden will be president on Jan 20.  Time to move on.  That big meany Trump can't hurt you anymore.

That's 12 days away. Still time for Trump to do damage. Do you ever get tired of minimizing his disastrous actions?

[placeholder]

As for Pence...let's not forget that in May he wrote an op-ed in the Wall St. Journal claiming there would be no second wave of the coronavirus.. This is the clown who was the head of the White House Coronavirus advisory council.

[Ventenio]

THINK.  Trump might control 70,000,000 Americans, plus he has some serious connections abroad.  He has way, way, way, way more power than you think he has, president or not.  i'm not saying this is good....i'm just saying

 

Fine, his aides are gone......but I'm a little worried what might happen down the road.

 

probably nothing..........................................probably.  

Edited January 8, 2021 by onthedarkside
trolling comment removed

[placeholder]

5 hours ago, Ventenio said:

THINK.  Trump might control 70,000,000 Americans, plus he has some serious connections abroad.  He has way, way, way, way more power than you think he has, president or not.  i'm not saying this is good....i'm just saying

 

Fine, his aides are gone......but I'm a little worried what might happen down the road.

 

probably nothing..........................................probably.  

 

Trump might control 70,000,000 Americans? I thought only 30,000 Trump supporters turned up in Washington. It wsa 70,000,000? They must be very tiny.

[Seth1a2a]

Just now, placeholder said:

I thought only 30,000 Trump supporters turned up in Washington.

Don't let your guard down yet......there was a giant sale at Walmart yesterday and they just couldn't tear themselves away.

[placeholder]

12 minutes ago, Seth1a2a said:

Don't let your guard down yet......there was a giant sale at Walmart yesterday and they just couldn't tear themselves away.

That explains this:

With Americans Stuck at Home, Trade With China Roars Back

Trade With China Roars Back As Americans Are Stuck At Home - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[Jeffr2]

43 minutes ago, ExpatOK said:

Biden will be president on Jan 20.  Time to move on.  That big meany Trump can't hurt you anymore.

Yeah.  He's only got the nuclear codes, controls the army, could invade foreign countries, and....he's mentally unstable. 

 

What could possibly go wrong?

[mtls2005]

Pre-recorded video, just released by trump on twitter....

 

part hostage tape, with a whole load of lies. And it looks like the Secretary of Make-up has resigned.

 

 

[Natai Beach]

12 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Pre-recorded video, just released by trump on twitter....

 

part hostage tape, with a whole load of lies. And it looks like the Secretary of Make-up has resigned.

 

 

No way he wrote that himself. 
 

Meanwhile in other news the USA yesterday set a new covid daily death number.

4,100 deaths yesterday and the USA are carrying on with this nonsense.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, ExpatOK said:

Biden will be president on Jan 20.  Time to move on.  That big meany Trump can't hurt you anymore.

Yes we know, you’d rather we forgive and forget.

 

It doesn’t work that way.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Chomper Higgot

[placeholder]

Reports: Trump Resisted Sending National Guard To Quell Violent Mob At U.S. Capitol

 

Reports: Trump Resisted Sending National Guard To Quell Violent Mob At U.S. Capitol (forbes.com)

[mtls2005]

Interesting that pence boot-licks his way for four years, and then, all of a sudden realizes something is wrong - the wolves he helped raises are at the gates -  and does his darn job for one day. Yes, heap on the accolades.

 

As another useless, one-term vp from Indiana, he should shuffle home and never be heard from again.

 

 

 

 

[animalmagic]

36 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Pre-recorded video, just released by trump on twitter....

 

part hostage tape, with a whole load of lies. And it looks like the Secretary of Make-up has resigned.

 

 

Sounds like - 'if you don't say this you're going to jail!'

[Jeffr2]

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Interesting that pence boot-licks his way for four years, and then, all of a sudden realizes something is wrong - the wolves he helped raises are at the gates -  and does his darn job for one day. Yes, heap on the accolades.

 

As another useless, one-term vp from Indiana, he should shuffle home and never be heard from again.

Sooooo many are now becoming turncoats...again.  From bashing Trump, to licking his boots, and now, back to bashing Trump.

 

No matter what they've just said, they've been complicit for years now.  Remember their names.

 

Cruz should be put in jail along with Hawley.  Sedition at it's worst.

[mrfill]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Trump might control 70,000,000 Americans? I thought only 30,000 Trump supporters turned up in Washington. It wsa 70,000,000? They must be very tiny.

Perhaps they were using the famed TAT people counting system.

[animalmagic]

I know it's masochistic, but I am missing the attempts at justification by the White House press secretary.

[bobbin]

13 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

I know it's masochistic, but I am missing the attempts at justification by the White House press secretary.

You aren't missing anything... I saw her 30 second press conference.

 

5 seconds saying what happened at the Capital was bad..  25 seconds saying it was all the fault of the Left, Antifa, BLM.

 

She looked rattled (picked the wrong side) and scurried out of the room without taking any questions..

 

There are still high-ranking Republicans hewing to the above talking points, trying to minimize (excuse) the damage.. but fewer every day.

 

The silver lining of course is that Trump, having over-played his hand, with considerable support from elected Republicans, is a much diminished political force..

[spidermike007]

It is an astonishing thing, to witness a man who was already psychologically unstable, completely come unhinged. He is rambling and incoherent in his speech now, utterly desperate, and increasingly dangerous. There should be some national security laws in place, that allow Trump to be locked up in jail, until the 20th. He is a dangerous man, and a threat to the nation. 

 

And as far as charging his rioters with sedition, I have no issue with that. But, only a small percentage of the ones who broke into the capital building were arrested. 

 

Compared to Portland, where protestors who came close to government buildings were treated quite harshly, this reeks of favoritism toward the white Trump crowd. How can the capital building, with congress in session, not be considered a far greater security threat, than a nearly empty government building in Portland? Something smells fishy here. 

 

No doubt the capital police failed miserably. But, was it a deliberate failure? And if so, should they be charged with a crime? 

[Natai Beach]

this video shows the trumps all standing around watching TV, some dancing , Trump wearing boxing gloves, the day that 4,100 died of covid and another quarter of a million new infections. 
 

Strange stuff..

 

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/footage-of-the-trumps-celebrating-at-rally-before-us-capitol-riots/news-story/c776846918c22abc7ae0015a4a1435de

[robblok]

I don't see many Trump supporters posting anymore. Many were quite confident that Trump would stay president and challenge the election. They have all gone silent. 

 

I don't see anyone defending him anymore. Seems that really a lot of people understand now how bad his actions were. Or they still support him but know their arguments wont hold. 

 

But the comments are pretty one sided now.