Trump treats White House ‘like a TV drama’
President is said to tell aides he views every day in power as an episode in which he faces down rivals
DONALD TRUMP told aides to treat each presidential day like a TV drama in which he vanquishes rivals by the end of each episode, according to former and current officials.
Based on interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress, the New York Times says the president watches as much as eight hours of television and drinks 12 cans of Diet Coke every day.
The result is an hour-by-hour fight with critics as he deflects attention from last year’s election or fends off investigators picking through his inner circle for evidence of collusion with Russian officials.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said: “He feels like there’s an effort to undermine his election and that collusion allegations are unfounded.
“He believes passionately that the liberal Left and the media are out to destroy him. The way he got here is fighting back and counterpunching.” Before taking office, Mr Trump reportedly told his team to treat each day in the White House like an episode of a TV show in which he would overcome opponents. In practice that frequently means a flurry of angry tweets as he responds to slights on TV news or highlights positive headlines.
He starts his day at 5.30am, tuning first to CNN and then switching to more favourable coverage on Fox News. Aides say he also tunes in to MSNBC’S Morning Joe, whose host Joe Scarborough has become a prominent critic, when he wants some extra fire for the day ahead.
Insiders insist the arrival of John Kelly, a former four-star Marine general, as chief of staff has made a difference. He has stemmed the uncontrolled flow of provocative information and visitors to the Oval Office while reducing the amount of free time the President has for firing off tweets.
However, they admit he has had limited success in ensuring Mr Trump starts his work day by 9.30am. He still has a habit of beginning his official calls still dressed in his nightclothes.
Critics say his unconventional approach stemmed from an assumption that he would have untrammelled powers, rather than sharing primacy with Congress and the judicial system.
He may also have had his own fears of being thought an impostor, according to Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives.
“He’s overcome that by now,” she said. “The bigger problem, the thing people need to understand, is that he was utterly unprepared for this. It would be like you or me going into a room and being asked to perform brain surgery. When you have a lack of knowledge as great as his, it can be bewildering.”
Loyalists such as Kellyanne Conway, counsellor to the President, say he is evolving as he goes. “He is very aware that he is only the 45th person to hold that job,” said Ms Conway. “The job has changed him a bit, and he has changed the job.”