Remember how Howard Hughes cracked up, living in one room with blackout curtains, surrounded by sycophants who personally prepared his food and never even handed Hughes anything unless it was wrapped in a kleenex, i.e. “insulation” from human contamination? It could be argued that Hughes was an insane genius considering his contributions to aviation and cinema, but in the case of Donald Trump, the same behavior just plays out as the morbid maladaption that it is. New York Times:
Tim O’Brien, a journalist who wrote a book about Mr. Trump, said he believed the president developed a sense that there are “these outside forces that will take your stuff away, and you’ve got to be paranoid,” in part from watching his father, Fred, get pummeled in hearings over allegations that he misused federal housing program funds.
But it goes beyond Mr. Trump’s view of government, and extends to what he eats and who comes near him.
The president is careful of what he says over the phone, and always has been, according to long-serving advisers. Former aides say Mr. Trump has a longtime fear of having his food contaminated. On occasions when they would leave Trump Tower together before the campaign, the first lady, Melania Trump, stuffed hospital-grade microbial wipes into her Hermes bags to make sure Mr. Trump can properly de-germ his hands. And on the eve of the president’s inauguration, the soon-to-be first couple had sheets and food delivered from the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House, according to two people familiar with what took place.
At the same time, Mr. Trump has a history of sharing closely held information with his friends, often with predictable results. Recently, Rudolph W. Giuliani, an old friend newly installed as one of his lawyers, began discussing the status of three Americans imprisoned by North Korea days before they were actually freed.
Despite the fact that Trump tells Rudy, Jarvanka and whomever else he pleases state secrets at will, the Trump White House is very upset with leaks and have canceled daily staff meetings until further notice. Trump tweeted that leakers were traitors and a White House witch hunt is on. CNN:
Discussions of staff reduction have ramped up after it leaked that a staffer made an off-color joke about Sen. John McCain, who has brain cancer, during a daily communications meeting.
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Staffers are not expected to be fired outright, but pushed out slowly or shifted to other departments in the administration outside of the West Wing, the officials said. It will also likely affect junior aides without clearly defined responsibilities. The reason staffers aren't expected to be fired directly is because, although the White House has taken several steps to combat leaks
including canceling the daily communications meeting, senior officials aren't confident about who it is exactly that is doing the leaking, one official noted.
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The cancellation of the daily communications meeting -- where Sadler remarked last week that McCain was "dying anyway" -- comes after chief of staff John Kelly also reduced the number of senior staff meetings he holds. Though they used to be held in his office three times a week, they now only occur once a week.
So the daily work of the White House is getting progressively slowed down as communication dwindles and paranoia peaks. The press team headed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders is in direct competition with the communications team, formerly headed by Hope Hicks, now helmed by Mercedes Schlapp. Apparently nobody gets along and nobody trusts anybody. Must be a terrific place to work.
[cross posted to PolitiZoom]