Trump's aides were reportedly shocked that he publicly aired his private thoughts on the alt-right


It was inevitable that President Trump would face more questions about last weekend's violent "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his belated condemnation on Monday of the neo-Nazi, white supremacists, and KKK members who led it. But "it did not seem inevitable, says Phillip Bump at The Washington Post, "that Trump's responses to questions about those protests would cement as correct the general interpretation of his first comments on the matter: He's sympathetic to the goals of the men who marched Saturday night carrying Confederate and Nazi flags — and even to the 'peaceful' torchlight protest on Friday in which marchers chanted anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans."
That was certainly the interpretation "alt-right" and white nationalist leaders took away from Trump's remarks at his press conference on Tuesday afternoon at Trump Tower. But it was also essentially what Trump's staff thought, Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman report at The New York Times:
No word in the Trump lexicon is as tread-worn as "unprecedented." But members of the president's staff, stunned and disheartened, said they never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the president had long expressed in private. ... No sooner had he delivered the Monday statement than he began railing privately to his staff about the news media. He fumed to aides about how unfairly he was being treated, and expressed sympathy with nonviolent protesters who he said were defending their "heritage," according to a West Wing official. [The New York Times]
Trump had been pressed to unequivocally condemn neo-Nazis and white supremacists on Monday by his new chief of staff, John Kelly, and daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner urged him to moderate his stance, Thrush and Haberman report, though "as with so many other critical moments in Mr. Trump's presidency, the two were on vacation, this time in Vermont." Kelly was not on vacation, and if you want to know what it was like for Trump's "stunned and disheartened" staff to hear Trump's remarks Tuesday, NBC News has a close-up of Kelly.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
You can read more about Trump's decision to go lay it all out there at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorship
Talking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programs
The Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants