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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border. He's a twisted guy."
In the era of primal Trump, West Wing advisers have been bracing for the moment when Donald Trump instigates a moral and political crisis from which the White House cant recover. The current situation, with its heartbreaking images of migrant families being separated on the southern border, and children interned in camps and kept in cages, might be that moment. There are echoes of Charlottesville, with the president digging himself deeper, even as the midterms loom. This is brutal, said one Republican close to the president. Trump is riding high in the polls, and its playing into his mental state that hes invincible.
Trumps decision to double down on the family-separation policy is sowing chaos in the West Wing, two sources close to the White House told me. For the second day in a row, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sandersalready eyeing an exit, though not for monthsdid not hold an on-camera briefing with reporters. Shes tired of taking on water for something she doesnt believe in, a friend of Sanders told me. She continues to have a frustration that the policies are all over the map, another person close to her said. Its not a good look for Sarah. According to sources, if Sanders were to leave earlier than expected, Trump is high on former Fox & Friends anchor Heather Nauert, whos currently the State Department spokesperson, to be his next press secretary. Trump loves her, one former administration official said. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)
Meanwhile, as the border crisis spirals, the absence of a coordinated policy process has allowed the most extreme administration voices to fill the vacuum. White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has all but become the face of the issue, a development that even supporters of Trumps zero-tolerance position say is damaging the White House. Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border, an outside White House adviser said. Hes a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. Theres always been a way hes gone about this. Hes Waffen-SS.
Making matters worse, Trump doesnt seem to have an end game for the inhumane policy that is opposed by two-thirds of Americans. Hes continued to blame Democrats for allowing immigrants to infest the country; while in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night with congressional Republicans, he called on them to end family separation and fix the immigration system. Hes effectively boxed himself into a corner. He doesnt like this policy, and he knows its not helping him, a Republican whos spoken with him said. But he cant get within him that this is a problem, and he needs to take ownership of it.
AllyCat
(16,233 posts)He seems to support it at every turn.
Caliman73
(11,744 posts)Trump is a racist but he is also a narcissist. The racism was learned and internalized, the narcissism a much deeper wound in his psyche and more to the core of who he is. Thus, he wants to punish brown people, but he can't do it freely if he is getting criticized for it by the majority of people.
Faux pas
(14,694 posts)catrose
(5,073 posts)Wasn't he fed Holocaust stories with his Gerber baby food like the rest of us? Does he know where #NeverAgain originated?
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)Miller would have been first in line to be a Kapo.
global1
(25,276 posts)have any polls been taken since this child separation crisis has come to a head?
Miles Archer
(18,837 posts)But that doesn't include the events of the last few days, so no...I don't think we have recent results.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)Corgigal
(9,291 posts)but without the courage to actually to put his ass on the line and be the average criminal.