HE’S COMING APART

Why Trump’s Now Losing on a ‘Daily Basis’: Wolff

Michael Wolff details what the unraveling of Donald Trump’s political project looks like.

Donald Trump is losing power for two reasons, his biographer says: Not only does he not want to change, but he is incapable of doing so.

Author Michael Wolff said on the Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head podcast that the 79-year-old president is in a mess of his own making. The way out, however, is unrealistic, because Trump wants to be who he has always been.

“Two things are happening at the same time. Donald Trump is not changing,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles. “Donald Trump can’t change. Donald Trump can’t fix the situation that he’s in. Donald Trump doesn’t want to. Donald Trump wants to be Donald Trump.”

Play Video

“That becomes clearer and clearer, which means that the enterprise itself gets weaker and weaker and is, in fact, falling apart,” Wolff continued. “So we’re dealing with these two things: Donald Trump... and the power that he has, and Donald Trump and the power that he is losing on a daily basis.”

The president, for instance, has rewarded “unfit” people with jobs simply because he can, Wolff said. Wolff cited Trump’s nomination of Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director with no known intelligence experience, to lead the country’s entire intelligence apparatus. There was also the appointment of convicted Jan. 6 rioter Elias Irizarry to the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Office.

“I was talking to a Trump guy—you know, someone I regard as basically a decent sort about this—and I was asking how can he hire these people? And this person replied, ‘To show that he can,’“ Wolff said.

“It’s all about him. It’s all about the message that he’s sending. So when he appoints these totally unfit people, it’s a message of control and contempt for rules and standards,” Wolff said.

TRUMP IS CORNERED

How I Know Trump Is at His Most Dangerous: Biographer

William Vaillancourt

Wolff explained at another point in the conversation that Trump’s message with these moves “is ‘f--k you.’”

“That is elemental to how he sees his administration and how he staffs his administration: I can appoint this person because I can.”

When reached for comment, the White House criticized Wolff.

“Michael Wolff is the biggest moron in media,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement. “What an absolute dumbass. He needs to skip the Quaaludes for breakfast.”

Play Video

Pulte may not be the only Trump nominee to face an uphill confirmation battle in the coming weeks. Trump announced on Wednesday that he would like acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously was his criminal defense attorney, to serve in that role in a permanent capacity.

Find and subscribe to Inside Trump’s Head with Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes of incomparable insight into the psyche of the world’s most talked-about man drop every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening on YouTube and Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday mornings on other podcast platforms.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

William VaillancourtReporter

Inside Trump's HeadPodcast

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.