Trump aides reportedly conclude he is 'mentally unreachable'
President Trump reportedly spent much of Wednesday "cocooned" at the White House as his supporters stormed the Capitol, and his aides say he has become "mentally unreachable."
While a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building on Wednesday, disrupting Congress' session to certify President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and leaving four people dead, Trump was "cocooned at the White House and listening only to a small coterie of loyal aides," all while resisting calls from advisers to condemn the rioters, The Washington Post reports.
"He kept saying: 'The vast majority of them are peaceful,'" an administration official told the Post. "'What about the riots this summer? What about the other side? No one cared when they were rioting. My people are peaceful. My people aren't thugs.' He didn't want to condemn his people."
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.
Now, Axios reports that some of Trump's "stalwart aides and confidants" have "given up trying to communicate with him" altogether, "considering him mentally unreachable."
"His closest friends and paid White House officials — many of the Trumpiest Trumpers we know — are avoiding him like the plague," Axios writes, adding, "The president's final days in office will be lonely ones."
Although Trump did ultimately release a video on Twitter in which he called on those rioting in the Capitol to go home, the video also again included his false claims that the election was stolen. According to the Post, aides had asked Trump not to include these false claims in the statement, but he went off script and threw them in anyway. Ultimately, some aides believe Trump "did irreparable damage to his presidency and legacy," the Post writes, with an administration official saying, "He was a total monster today."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Political cartoons for January 19Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Greenland tariffs, fighting the Fed, and more
-
Spain’s deadly high-speed train crashThe Explainer The country experienced its worst rail accident since 2013, with the death toll of 39 ‘not yet final’
-
Can Starmer continue to walk the Trump tightrope?Today's Big Question PM condemns US tariff threat but is less confrontational than some European allies
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
