Trump just said 'nobody disobeys my orders.' Here are 7 times they seemingly did.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, released with redactions on Thursday, showed that President Trump's staffers don't always listen to his demands.
So on Monday, CNN's Kaitlin Collins asked Trump about that revelation. "Nobody disobeys my orders," he tersely and falsely claimed before walking away. As a recap, here are seven — or possibly more — officials who proved him wrong.
1. Former White House Counsel Don McGahn. Per Mueller's report, McGahn was "prepared to resign" over Trump's insistence that he have Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein oust Mueller.
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.
2-3. Rick Dearborn and Corey Lewandowski. Trump asked these two officials to tell then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to "confine the Russia investigation to future election meddling only," Mueller's reporting shows. They didn't listen.
4. Ex-FBI Director James Comey. Trump told Comey to drop his drop his investigation into Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. But Comey refused, leading to "Flynn's prosecution and conviction for lying to the FBI," Mueller's report says.
5. Jeff Sessions. Trump tried to get his ex-attorney general to "unrecuse" himself from the Mueller probe, the report showed. Not that it's even clear if unrecusal is a thing.
6. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. She was ousted after saying she wouldn't try to reinstate a family separation policy, and for refusing to illegally close the border, per an NBC News report.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
7. Some anonymous senior official — or a few. Remember the whole New York Times op-ed that detailed a legion of Trump officials working to disrupt his agenda every day? It's unclear who wrote it, or just how many officials are in this so-called resistance, though some speculate Nielsen was behind it all.
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Could Trump run for a third term?The Explainer Constitutional amendment limits US presidents to two terms, but Trump diehards claim there is a loophole
-
Political cartoons for November 28Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include economic diagnosis, climate distractions, and more
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
