How Trump became the 'ideal vessel' to implement Barr's all-powerful executive theory

People who've worked with Attorney General William Barr say he's treating President Trump as a pawn to execute his longtime goals.

Barr has long been a proponent of the "unitary executive" theory, which assumes the president solely holds the power of the executive branch, and can avoid checks on his power from the rest of the government. Former colleagues say Barr has found in Trump an "ideal vessel" to execute that theory — though they debate just how much Trump is using him too, The Washington Post Magazine reports in a profile of Barr published Tuesday.

Barr was attorney general for the first time under former President George H.W. Bush, who held a "more modest view of executive power" than Barr would've liked. But in Trump, Barr found "a self-centered, self-aggrandizing child of privilege," who "offered the opportunity of a lifetime" to remake the executive branch in his vision, the Post writes. Stuart Gerson, who ran the Justice Department's civil division under Bush, explained to the Post that "Trump is not intelligent or incisive, but Bill Barr is both," making Trump "the canvas on which Barr can paint his picture."

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Donald Ayer, who was a deputy attorney general under Bush and was succeeded by Barr, told the Post he sees the attorney general and president's relationship as more symbiotic. "Donald Trump is as much a tool of Bill Barr as Bill Barr is a tool of Donald Trump," Ayer said. "I think Barr sees Trump as an extraordinary opportunity to advance his agenda, which he's had for many years, of making the president an autocrat," though Trump seems perfectly fine with that goal as well, he continued. Read more about how Trump is making Barr's wildest dreams come true at The Washington Post Magazine.