President Trump is not dealing well with the latest rounds of criticism about his intelligence and competence from Bob Woodward's new instant best-seller, Fear, and an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times, Gabriel Sherman reports in Vanity Fair. "The president has had it," a former West Wing official told the magazine. "When books like this come out, he tends to shut down and calls up people he sees on TV saying good things about him." Donald Trump Jr. is reportedly telling people he's concerned that his father isn't sleeping because his of obsession with the anonymous op-ed writer and nagging suspicion it could be almost anyone.
"Besides family, one of the only people Trump continues to trust is Stephen Miller," his senior policy adviser, Sherman writes, quoting a Republican close to the White House as explaining: "The op-ed has validated Miller's view, which was also Steve Bannon's, that there's an 'administrative state' out to get Trump." Bannon apparently believes this amounts to a coup, and Trump agrees, a person familiar with Trump's thinking told Sherman: "Trump believes there's a coup."
Subscribe to 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.
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitutionspeed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 lawspeed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN rolespeed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contractionspeed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábgego García but won'tSpeed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national electionSpeed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war
-
Trump's 100-day approval ratings at historic lowSpeed Read Americans appear to be wary of Trump's sweeping tariffs and handling of the economy
-
Judge blocks key part of Trump's elections overhaulSpeed Read Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's decision temporarily bars federal officials from requiring Americans to prove they are citizens to register to vote
