As President Trump made history tonight as the only US president to be impeached twice, a White House adviser said “everyone is mad at everyone” at the inside the White House, the president being upset because he thinks people don’t defend him enough.
“He is in a self-pity mode,” the source said.
The view among many close to Trump is that “his actions have led to no one else here,” adding, “he prompted a crowd to charge the Capitol building to stop decertification, he is not going to find much sympathetic Republicans “.
During the latest impeachment effort, Trump’s allies inside and outside the White House publicly defended him and sent talking points throughout the impeachment process.
Today it was the president who was on his own at the White House, releasing a statement first given to Fox News denouncing further violence, followed by a five-minute video that struck a chord very different from his first post after the attack. at the Capitol last week. Aides scrambled to find a way to publish the video, fearing that even a contrite Trump could have his videos deleted.
Additionally, there has been no organized effort to send talking points, unlike his first impeachment.
Many White House staff have left or resigned since the riots, including Hope Hicks, a longtime Trump confidante. Another person close to the White House said “he’s locked himself in the residence, that’s never a good thing.
“He’s lonely, there aren’t many people to bounce ideas off of, every time that happens he goes to his worst instincts. Now that Twitter is no longer available, God only knows what will be the outlet, ”the source said.
One outlet Trump is focusing on is wielding his remaining power: pardons. Several sources told CNN that the next batch of pardons could arrive as early as Thursday, in part to distract from the current narrative.
One of the sources also noted that Trump planned to present New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick with the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor tomorrow, but Belichick declined. The announcement of certain pardons could replace that, especially if there are some high-profile ones.
Moving forward: Another lingering question is whether Trump will forgive himself and his children.
A person close to Trump thinks it is a bad idea for him to forgive himself and his children in the wake of the riots, but that he wants to wield the power that is left to him.
