New York Magazine - USA (2020-10-12)

22 newyork| october12–25, 2020

vivalinthefirstplace.

AseniorWhiteHouseofficialtoldme

therehasbeenanongoingefforttoper-

suadethepresidentnottodoanyofthis,as

there alwaysisduringhisepisodes of

advancedmania.Askedwhat theeffort

lookedlike thistime,withTrumpphysically

removedfrommostofthepeoplewho

mighttrytocalmhimdown,theofficial

said,“Well,forstarters,it’s unsuccessful.”

OneformerWhiteHouseofficialsaid

thatstoppingTrumpfromdoingsomething

stupidthat hereallywantstodois possible

onlyif you’re“actuallysittinginfrontof

him.”Sickthemselvesortryingtoavoida

sickpresident,“thepeoplehetrustsand

respectswhowouldbebarrierstothat

behaviordon’t seemtobearound,” thisper-

sonsaid.“Itjust lookssochaotic.Duh.”

AsecondformerWhiteHouseofficial

saidtheproblemis “nowpeoplearesobro-

kendown,tothepointwhereeveryone’s

beenin‘J esus,take thewheel’ modeforthe

lastcoupleyears,andfightingagainst him

is onlygonnagetthemburned.Why even

try?”Thepresident’s staff,thispersonsaid,

have no ability to think strategically

becausethepresident’s behaviorposesnew

threatstosurvivaleveryfiveminutes.

“Idon’t thinkthey’reevenconsidering

whathappensif he’s backintheWhite

Houseandheneedsoxygenora ventilator.

Theirview is ‘Ifit happens,well,we’ll fuck-

ingfigureit outwhenit happens!’”

Like Gingrich,they havetostayopti-

mistic.“Theyaren’tevenconsidering

whathappenswhenhe’s feelingworse

thanhe’s feelingnow, whenhe’s hopped

upfullofsteroidsandotherperformance

enhancers.He’s onthesort ofdrugsyou’d

seewitha TourdeFranceriderinthemid-

’90s!”Anotherwaytosay this,theformer

WhiteHouseofficialsaid,wasthat the

presidentis“hoppeduponmoredrugs

thana Belgianracingpigeon.”In keeping

withthebirdtheme,thispersonsaidthe

president’s illnesswasproofthat “the

chickensarecominghometoroost.”

“Goingbackto 20 16,”thispersonadded,

“youalwayshadthesewarningsfromthe

ClintoncampandDemocratsandthe

Never-TrumpRepublicansthat, if hetakes

officeandif a crisishits,it’s gonnabea mess.

Butpeopledon’t reallyvoteonthat when

there’s nota crisis.Peoplethink,A crisisisn’t

gonnahappen!Mayaswellvotefortheguy

witha goodtaxpolicy.Suddenly, thishap-

pens,andyoualwaysassumeit won’t hap-

pentoyou,butwhenyouactlike that, bad

thingshappen!”

OnetheoryofTrump’sself-immolation

campaignis thatit’s aboutgaininga sense

ofcontrol.“I don’t thinkhewantstolose.

I thinkhewantstohaveexcusesforwhy

hedidlose,”a thirdformerWhiteHouse

officialsaid.“Ifit’s theballot,theChina

virus,if it’ s NancyPelosi.I just thinkhe

wantsanex cuse.”

Asheconsiderstheend,hefakeshis

waythrougha performanceofpolitical

possibility. Onepersonwhopubliclysup-

portsTrumpandconsidershima friend

saidthat,inconversationswithWhite

Houseandcampaignofficialsfollowing

thepresident’s releasefromthehospital,it

becameclearthatnoonewhowassup-

posedto knowseemedsurewhen he

wouldbeokay. “They’reputtingouta big

‘Oh,everything’sfine!’face.ButI don’t

thinktheyknowhowmuchstaminahe’s

gonnahave,”thispersonsaid.“I didn’t like

thewayhelookedonthat balcony. Last

week,I would’vesaidthat hewasdefi-

nitelygoingtowin.Now,I don’t know.”

D

onaldtrumpdoesnot

oftengetsick.Thephiloso-

phyofFredTrumpdecreed

that“sicknesswas weak-

ness,” MaryTrumptoldme,

“whichobviouslyDonald

hasadheredto,whichis a bigpartofthe

reasonwe’reinthishorriblemesswe’rein.”

Mary Trumpis thepresident’s nieceas

wellasa psychologist, whosebest seller,Too

MuchandNeverEnough,analyzesher

unclethroughthedysfunctionalfamilyhe

camefrom.Inherview,thepresidentis best

understoodasa self-unawareTinMan,

abandonedasa smallchildbyhissick

motherandrejectedbyhissociopathfather

untilhebecameusefultohim,whoseend-

lesssearchforloveandapprovalplaysout

asmentalwarfareontheFreeWorldhe

improbablyrepresents.“Inordertodeal

withtheterrorandthelonelinessheexpe-

rienced,hedevelopedthesedefensemecha-

nismsthatessentiallymadehimunlovable,”

Mary said.“Overtime,they hardenedinto

charactertraitsthat my grandfathercame

tovalue.Whenyou’resomebodywhocraves

love but doesn’t understand what it

means—hejustknowshemissesitand

needsit,buthe’ll neverhaveit becausehe’s

somebodynobodyloves—that’s fucking

“He ’s on the sort

of drugsyou’dsee

wi th a Tourde

Fr anceriderin the

mi d-’90s!”

OCT.5:The night Trump returned, a member of the White House cleaning

staffsprayed the press briefing room.

PHOTOGRAPH: ERIN SCOTT/REUTERS

intelligencer

☛ Continued from p. 20