Trump is so mad the press learned of his bunker episode, he reportedly wants the leakers found, prosecuted

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

published 18 June 2020

Things are pretty gloomy in President Trump's White House, with an agitated and apparently depressed president overwhelmed by "a series of external crises he has failed to contain, or has exacerbated," Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni report at The New York Times, citing more than a dozen people in frequent contact with Trump, all of whom hope he wins re-election. In fact, Trump's "self-destructive behavior has been so out of step for an incumbent in an election year that many advisers wonder if he is truly interested in serving a second term."

Trump only just asked his policy staff to start coming up with proposals and goals for next year and beyond, the Times reports, and in lieu of focusing on what he would do with a second term, "Trump has been wallowing in self-pity about news coverage of him since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic," telling "advisers that no matter what he does, he cannot get 'good' stories from the press, which has often been his primary interest."

For example, Trump has told aides his sympathetic remarks about George Floyd's killing during a SpaceX launch event should have been enough, the Times reports. "Trump has also become consumed, once again, with leaks from the White House, demanding that officials find and prosecute those responsible for information getting out about his trip to the bunker beneath the White House during unruly protests." Trump responded to initial reports that he was whisked to a secure White House bunker as protesters raged outside the White House by cryptically tweeting "FAKE NEWS," then claimed he had only visited the bunker to "inspect it" — a claim promptly contradicted by Attorney General William Barr.

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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.