¶ Trump Is Too Lazy To Be An Effective President
Highlights:
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Donald Trump golfed over 150 times while president.
- Trump visited his personal properties over 500 times while in office.
- Trump spent close to a third of his time in office at his properties.
- After Trump was elected, he claimed that he would not have time for vacation.
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Donald Trump spent a lot of unstructured time in the residence live tweeting TV programming, mostly Fox.
- Trump scheduled showed that 60% of it was filled with “Executive Time.”
- Trump often arrived at the Oval Office late in the morning (11:00 am) for short seven-hour work days.
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Donald Trump was disinterested during intelligence briefings and needed visual aids to keep his attention.
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Donald Trump handed over international summits, national security meetings, and the Coronavirus early response to Pence while he tweeted and campaigned.
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Donald Trump outsourced important vetting of administration staff and judges to the media and partisan groups.
- Trump had the Federalist Society find his judicial nominations.
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Immediately after effectively securing the Republican nomination in 2024, Donald Trump has spent little time on the campaign trail.
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Donald Trump’s allies consistently said he lacked the work ethic to be president.
¶ Part-Time President: Trump Spent A Lot Of Time Golfing, Vacationing, Watching TV, And Tweeting
¶ The Washington Post Concluded Trump Was A Part-Time President
Washington Post: Trump Was “A Part-Time President.” According to the Washington Post, “The question increasingly is what ‘this’ is. And judging by the Axios report, ‘this’ is increasingly spending time outside the Oval Office, watching TV and tweeting. It suggests that, relative to past inhabitants of the Oval Office, we truly do have a part-time president.” [Washington Post, 1/27/17]
¶ Trump Visited His Properties At Least 500 Times During His Term
Trump Made His 500th Visit To One Of His Properties. According to Citizens For Ethics, “President Trump made his 500th visit to one of his properties since becoming president when he went to the Trump hotel in Washington today to meet with political donors ahead of his speech at the Republican National Convention.” [Citizens For Ethics, 8/27/20]
Trump Has Visited His Properties Every 4.9 Days Since His Inauguration. [Trumpgolfcount.com, accessed 2/23/24]
¶ Trump Spent Close To A Third Of His Time As President At One Of His Properties
Trump Stayed At Or Visited His Properties For At Least 394 Days Of His Presidency. According to Citizens For Ethics, “President Trump has visited or stayed at one or more of his properties on 394 separate days since becoming president. That figure amounts to almost one third of his time in office at one of his properties, or well over a year of his presidency.” [Citizens For Ethics, 8/27/20]
¶ Trump Cumulatively Spent Over 300 Days Golfing While He Was President
Trump Spent 307 Days Golfing During His Presidency. According to the Seattle Medium, “President Donald Trump has spent 307 days, almost a full year, golfing during his presidency. The total is likely to be the most golf outings of any president in history.” [Seattle Medium, 1/4/21]
¶ Trump Played At Least 150 Rounds Of Golf While President
Trump Played At Least 150 Rounds Of Golf While In Office. According to Trump Golf Count, “Daytime visits to golf clubs since inauguration, with evidence of playing golf on at least 150 visits.” [Trumpgolfcount.com, accessed 2/23/24]
¶ Trump Promised He Would Not Take Vacation As President
Candidate Trump Said He “Would Rarely Leave The White House Because There’s So Much Work To Be Done […] I Would Not Be A President Who Took Vacations.” According to The Hill, “Real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump (R) says he wouldn’t get out much if he wins the Oval Office next year. ‘I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done,’ Trump, 69, tells ITK. ‘I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.’ ‘You don’t have time to take time off,’ Trump adds.” [Hill, 6/23/15]
¶ Trump’s Schedule Revealed Large Percentage Of Time Spent Doing “Executive Time” As He mostly watches Tv, Tweets, And Makes Phone Calls
¶ Trump Had Large Amounts Of His Schedule Dedicated To Unspecified “Executive Time”
Trump’s Leaked Schedule Revealed 60% Of His Time Was “Executive Time.” According to Axios, “This unusually voluminous leak gives us unprecedented visibility into how this president spends his days. The schedules, which cover nearly every working day since the midterms, show that Trump has spent around 60% of his scheduled time over the past 3 months in unstructured ‘Executive Time.’” [Axios, 2/3/19]
¶ Trump Spent His Mornings Watching TV
Trump Spent His Mornings Watching TV And Making Phone Calls To His Friends And Allies. According to Axios, “Instead, he spends his mornings in the residence, watching TV, reading the papers, and responding to what he sees and reads by phoning aides, members of Congress, friends, administration officials and informal advisers.” [Axios, 2/3/19]
Trump Schedule Breakdown Showed Based On Leaked Schedules.
[Axios, 2/3/19]
¶ Trump Typically Arrived In The Oval Office Just Before Noon And Spent Less Than Eight Hours Working Before Returning To The Residence
Trump Would Not Arrive To The Oval Office Until 11am, Later Than Either Of His Predecessors. According to Axios, “Trump comes down for his first meeting of the day, which is often an intelligence briefing, at 11am.That's far later than George W. Bush, who typically arrived in the Oval by 6:45am. Obama worked out first thing in the morning and usually got into the Oval between 9 and 10am, according to a former senior aide.” [Axios, 1/7/18]
Trump Spent Only Seven Hours In The Oval Office On Average And Would Spend Most Of His Time At The Residence. According to Axios, “Trump's days in the Oval Office are relatively short – from around 11am to 6pm, then he's back to the residence. During that time he usually has a meeting or two, but spends a good deal of time making phone calls and watching cable news in the dining room adjoining the Oval. Then he's back to the residence for more phone calls and more TV.” [Axios, 1/7/18]
¶ Trump’s Time In The Residence Was Unstructured And Undisciplined
Aides Said Trump’s Time In The Residence Was Unstructured And Undisciplined As He Spent It Watching TV, Making Phone Calls, Tweeting, And Generally Taking A Loose Approach. According to Axios, “Aides say Trump is always doing something — he's a whirl of activity and some aides wish he would sleep more — but his time in the residence is unstructured and undisciplined. He's calling people, watching TV, tweeting, and generally taking the same loose, improvisational approach to being president that he took to running the Trump Organization for so many years. Old habits die hard.” [Axios, 1/7/18]
¶ Trump Spent A Lot Of Time Live Tweeting TV Programming
¶ Nearly 10% Of Trump’s Tweets In 2019 Were In Response To Fox News Or Fox Business
Nearly 10% Of Trump’s Tweets In 2019 Were In Response To Fox Programming He Was Watching. According to Media Matters, “President Donald Trump tweeted in response to Fox News or Fox Business programs he was watching at least 657 times in 2019 -- nearly 10% of his total tweets that year -- according to a Media Matters review. He live-tweeted 36 different Fox programs, doing so most frequently in response to the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends, which he tweeted about at least 206 times.” [Media Matters, 1/19/20]
Trump Tweeted In Response To Fox & Friends, A Fox News Morning Show, Most Frequently For A Total Of 206 Tweets In 2019. According to Media Matters, “President Donald Trump tweeted in response to Fox News or Fox Business programs he was watching at least 657 times in 2019 -- nearly 10% of his total tweets that year -- according to a Media Matters review. He live-tweeted 36 different Fox programs, doing so most frequently in response to the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends, which he tweeted about at least 206 times.” [Media Matters, 1/19/20]
¶ Trump Live Tweeted A Response To Joe Scarborough Calling Him “Laziest President Ever” On TV
MSNBC Host Joe Scarborough Called Trump “The Laziest President Ever” And Called Executive Time “Playtime.” According to the Daily Beast, “During a segment about the Axios reports, Brzezinski derided the president, claiming that Trump’s day is filled with ‘playtime.’ Scarborough deemed Trump’s schedule ‘an absolute joke. We’ve seen one person after another saying he often just hunkers down upstairs in the personal quarters, he spends of majority of his time watching cable news, tweeting, yelling, staring at TV sets like an old man in a retirement home instead of a President of the United States who is supposed to be working 24 hours a day,’ continued Scarborough. ‘I’m sure most older men in retirement homes live far more active lives than does Donald Trump, but for these people to come out and suggest—and for Donald Trump to suggest—he’s worked harder than most any president before him is just an absolute joke,’ he added. ‘Historians will record, when this presidency is over, that Donald Trump was the laziest president ever to occupy the Oval Office,’ Scarborough concluded.” [Daily Beast, 2/11/20]
After Scarborough Ripped Trump On TV, He Tweeted, “No President Ever Worked Harder Than Me.” According to a tweet, “No president ever worked harder than me (cleaning up the mess I inherited)!” [Twitter, 2/11/19]
¶ In The Middle Of The Pandemic, Trump Talked About How He Spent Approximately Eight Hours Watching Fox Shows
September 10, 2020: During Press Conference Trump Listed Fox Shows He Watched In The Last Day Accounting For Up To 8 Hours Of TV. According to remarks, “Now, what the Durham report is going to say, I can’t tell you. But if they say half as much as I already know — just from seeing it. You know, you have people — I watch some of the shows. I watch Liz McDonald; she’s fantastic. I watched Fox Business. I watched Lou Dobbs last night, Sean Hannity last night, Tucker last night, Laura. I watched “Fox and Friends” in the morning.You watch these shows; you don’t have to go too far into the details. They cover things that are — it’s really an amazing thing.” [Remarks by Trump in a Press Briefing, 9/10/20]
¶ Trump Was Notoriously Checked Out During Briefings
¶ Trump Preferred Visual Aids And Short Bullet Points During Intelligence Briefings
Trump Told Intelligence Briefers He Preferred “Bullets Or […] As Little As Possible” And Visual Aids. According to The Washington Post, “’I like bullets or I like as little as possible,’ he said in a pre-inaugural interview with Axios. ‘I don't need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page.’ Trump also has encouraged his briefers to include as many visual elements as possible. This is a reflection, aides said, of Trump's career as a real estate developer who evaluated blueprints and renderings to visualize what a property eventually would look like. ‘Sometimes,’ Coats said, ‘pictures do say a thousand words.’” [Washington Post, 5/29/17]
During Intelligence Briefings, Trump Consumed Nuggets Of Information From “Killer Graphics” And Was Indifferent To Subtleties. According to The Washington Post, “President Trump consumes classified intelligence like he does most everything else in life: ravenously and impatiently, eager to ingest glinting nuggets but often indifferent to subtleties. Most mornings, often at 10:30, sometimes earlier, Trump sits behind the historic Resolute desk and, with a fresh Diet Coke fizzing and papers piled high, receives top-secret updates on the world's hot spots. The president interrupts his briefers with questions but also with random asides. He asks that the top brass of the intelligence community be present, and he demands brevity. As they huddle around the desk, Trump likes to pore over visuals — maps, charts, pictures and videos, as well as ‘killer graphics,’ as CIA Director Mike Pompeo phrased it. ‘That's our task, right? To deliver the material in a way that he can best understand the information we're trying to communicate,’ said Pompeo, adding that he, too, prefers to ‘get to the core of the issue quickly.’” [Washington Post, 5/29/17]
Trump Preferred “Big Pictures”—Requiring Visuals And Broad Themes Rather Than Narratives About Developing Events During Intelligence Briefings. According to Newsweek, “The president prefers ‘big pictures’ during his intel meetings in more ways than one: Trump doesn't care to read long narratives about developing events around the world, instead preferring imagery he can better understand. He also prefers discussing broader themes and secrets in a free-flowing conversation. ‘It's a very oral, interactive discussion, as opposed to sitting there and reading from a text or a script,’ Pompeo said.” [Newsweek, 5/30/17]
¶ People Close To Trump Said Had Difficulty Concentrating During Briefings
Intelligence Briefers Struggled To Keep Trump’s Attention Needing To Repeat His Name, Use Visual Aids, And Keep Points Short According To Anonymous Reports. According to Time, “Citing multiple in-person episodes, these intelligence officials say Trump displays what one called ‘willful ignorance’ when presented with analyses generated by America’s $81 billion-a-year intelligence services. The officials, who include analysts who prepare Trump’s briefs and the briefers themselves, describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining some briefing points to two or three sentences, and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible.” [Time, 2/5/19]
¶ Trump Said He Did Not Need Daily Intelligence Briefings
Trump Said Daily Intelligence Briefings Here Unnecessary And Only Needed To Be Informed “If Something Should Change.” According to Politico, “’You know, I'm, like, a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don't need that,’ Trump said. ‘But I do say, 'If something should change, let us know. '’ […] ‘I mean, there will be some very fluid situations. I'll be there not every day, but more than that,’ Trump said. ‘But I don't need to be told, Chris, the same thing every day, every morning, same words, 'Sir, nothing has changed. Let's go over it again.' I don't need that.’” [Politico, 12/11/16]
¶ Trump Delegated Intelligence Briefings Typically Given To Presidents To Cabinet-Level Appointees
President-Elect Trump Did Not Receive Intelligence Briefings Daily And Instead Had Those In His Cabinet Get Daily Briefings In His Stead. According to Politico, “President-elect Donald Trump said he does not need to receive the presidential intelligence briefing every day, suggesting in an interview aired Sunday that such briefings are repetitive and he is happy to rely on those around him on matters of intelligence and national security […] In lieu of receiving the daily briefings every day, Trump said the retired generals he has nominated for his Cabinet, James Mattis as secretary of defense and John Kelly as secretary of homeland security, are being regularly briefed. As is Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who Trump called ‘one of my very good decisions.’” [Politico, 12/11/16]
Intelligence Documents Historically Meant For The President Were Redirected To Cabinet Level Officials Under Trump. According to the Independent, “The PDB, a document that for decades has been drawn up specifically for the commander-in-chief, ‘has become more important for cabinet-level officials than the president’, said a former senior US intelligence official who until earlier this year was involved in drafting such documents.” [Independent, 12/13/18]
¶ Intelligence Officers Were Frustrated With Trump’s “Willful Ignorance” And Time Wasted Trying To Get Him To Focus
Intelligence Officers Said Trump Displayed “Willful Ignorance” To Analyses Presented By American Intelligence And Angry Reactions To Information That Contradicts Positions He Took Publicly. According to Time, “Citing multiple in-person episodes, these intelligence officials say Trump displays what one called ‘willful ignorance’ when presented with analyses generated by America’s $81 billion-a-year intelligence services. The officials, who include analysts who prepare Trump’s briefs and the briefers themselves, describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining some briefing points to two or three sentences, and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible. What is most troubling, say these officials and others in government and on Capitol Hill who have been briefed on the episodes, are Trump’s angry reactions when he is given information that contradicts positions he has taken or beliefs he holds. Two intelligence officers even reported that they have been warned to avoid giving the President intelligence assessments that contradict stances he has taken in public.” [Time, 2/5/19]
U.S. Intelligence Officials Were Frustrated With “Waste” Of “Time, Energy, And Resources” To Brief Trump Who Seemed Uninterested. According to the Independent, “’There is extraordinary frustration,’ a US intelligence official said. The CIA and other agencies continue to devote enormous ‘time, energy and resources’ to ensuring that accurate intelligence is delivered to Mr Trump, the official said, but his seeming imperviousness to such material often renders ‘all of that a waste.’” [Independent, 12/13/18]
¶ Trump Said He Was Too Busy To Call For The Release of Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich
Trump Said He Had Not Called For Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich’s Release Because, “I Guess Because I Have So Many Other Things I’m Working On.” According to Time, “Trump has historically been reluctant to criticize or confront Putin. He sided with the Russian autocrat over his own intelligence community when it asserted that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Even now, Trump uses Putin as a foil for his own political purposes. When I asked Trump why he has not called for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been unjustly held on spurious charges in a Moscow prison for a year, Trump says, ‘I guess because I have so many other things I’m working on.’ Gershkovich should be freed, he adds, but he doubts it will happen before the election. ‘The reporter should be released and he will be released,’ Trump tells me. ‘I don’t know if he’s going to be released under Biden. I would get him released.’” [Time, 4/30/24]
¶ Trump Delegated Presidential Tasks To Pence While He Campaigned Or Tweeted
¶ Trump Put Pence In Charge Of The Coronavirus While He Continued Campaigning For President
Trump Named Vice President Pence As The Coronavirus Task Force Leader. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead a task force to combat the spread of the coronavirus, defying calls to appoint an outside expert to coordinate the response. Speaking during a rare appearance in the White House briefing room, Trump said Pence's experience handling health crises as Indiana governor qualified him to spearhead the growing threat of a global coronavirus outbreak […] The White House had been weighing the appointment of a coronavirus czar in the lead up of the announcement as it faced criticism over its inconsistent messaging during the emerging crisis. Still, Trump said Pence would not be a ‘czar’ because ‘he is a part of the administration.’ Instead, he will apparently oversee the task force currently managing Trump's response to the virus.” [Politico, 2/26/20]
¶ Trump Attended Political Fundraisers And Rallies As The Coronavirus Situation In The U.S. Escalated
Trump And Administration Officials Attended Political Fundraisers And Rallies As The Coronavirus Situation In The U.S. Escalated. According to the Washington Post, “For a president and campaign team that have long relied on a strong economy to help buoy Trump’s reelection prospects, the precipitous market plunge raised deep concerns. Yet administration officials plowed forward with their previous schedules, modifying them only slightly as they tried to minimize the coronavirus threat. Mulvaney spoke, as previously planned, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, where he assured the crowd, ‘We know how to handle this,’ and accused the news media of overhyping the virus to ‘bring down the president.’ Pence, too, continued with a prior commitment Friday evening — a closed-door, high-dollar fundraiser in Sarasota, Fla. — while tacking on a brief coronavirus response meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) at the airport when he landed in the state. And Trump held a long-standing campaign rally Friday in North Charleston, S.C., where he accused Democrats of ‘politicizing’ the coronavirus.” [Washington Post, 2/29/20]
¶ Trump Sent Pence To Do His Job While He Stewed And Tweeted About The Mueller Investigation
¶ Pence Took Trump’s Place For Official Head Of State Responsibilities
¶ Pence Presided Over NSC Meetings Twice In Early April 2018
April 2018: Pence Presided Over NSC Meetings In Trump’s Place While Trump Tweeted Threats At Syria And Escalated Tensions With Putin. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump’s potential military strike against Syria is putting him on a dangerous new collision course with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just weeks after Trump invited the Russian leader to the White House. On a day when Trump tweeted a vow to attack Syrian government forces — mocking a Russian threat of retaliation — experts and former U.S. officials warned that Washington and Moscow could stumble into a dangerous clash. […] For at least the second time this week, Vice President Mike Pence presided over a meeting of Trump’s national security advisers, Sanders said.” [Politico, 4/11/18]
¶ April 2018: Pence Attended The Summit Of Americas In Place Of Trump
April 2018: Trump Skipped Summit Of The Americas And Set Pence In His Place. According to CNBC, “President Donald Trump has canceled his scheduled trip to multiple South American countries originally planned for this week, the White House said Tuesday. In a statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president ‘will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru or travel to Bogota, Colombia as originally scheduled.’ Vice President Mike Pence will make the trip in Trump’s stead, Sanders said.” [CNBC, 4/10/18]
¶ Trump Changed His Schedule Obstinately To Respond To The Syrian Conflict, But Spent Time Stewing About FBI Raid Of Michael Cohen’s Office
Trump Claimed To Change Schedule To Work On The Crisis In Syria, But Comments To Press Indicated He Was Preoccupied With Mueller Investigation And The Search Of Cohen’s Office. According to CNBC, “The surprise change to an event scheduled for later this week came amid Trump’s continued effort to negotiate trade deals — and his continued anger over the special counsel’s Russia probe and a recent raid on his personal lawyer’s residence and office. Trump met with military officials in the White House Monday evening to deliberate over the administration’s response to an alleged chemical weapons attack carried out by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government against its own people. In comments to the press before the round-table meeting began, however, Trump focused much more on the warranted search of lawyer Michael Cohen’s office and residence that morning by the FBI, which had reportedly received a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller.” [CNBC, 4/10/18]
¶ While Pence Was Doing Trump’s Job, Trump Tweeted
TWITTER: Donald Trump: “Attorney-Client Privilege Is Dead!” According to Donald Trump’s tweet, “Attorney–client privilege is dead!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 4/10/18]
TWITTER: Trump: “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” According to Donald Trump’s tweet, “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 4/10/18]
TWITTER: Trump Tweeted About Launching Missiles At Syria And Warned Russia “They Will Be Coming.” According to Donald Trump’s tweet, “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 4/11/18]
¶ Trump Said He Let The Media Vet His Nominees For Him
¶ Trump Had The Media Vet His Nominees Instead Of His Staff Or An OUtside Firm
Trump Said He Let The Media Vet Nominees For Him And Noted “We Save A Lot Of Money That Way.” According to The Hill, “But on the South Lawn, he suggested coverage of his nominees was part of the vetting process. ‘I get a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of time you do a very good job. Not always,’ Trump told reporters. ‘If you look at the vetting process for the White House, it is very good, but you are part of the vetting process. I give out a name to the press and you vet for me, we save a lot of money that way.’” [The Hill, 8/2/19]
¶ As A Candidate, Trump Released A List Of Supreme Court Nominees Given By The Head Of The Federalist Society
The Federalist Society Played A Key Role In List Of Names Candidate Trump Provided For Supreme Court Justices. According to the Washington Post Magazine, “But having allies on the highest court of the land is just the top layer of the Federalist Society’s expanding sway. For one thing, there is the judicial nomination process itself. When Trump was campaigning in 2016, he made the shrewd and unorthodox move of publicizing a list of 11 conservative legal stars that he promised to draw from if he got a chance to pick a Supreme Court justice. Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, played a key role in suggesting the names, along with Trump’s future White House counsel, Don McGahn (also a society member), and the conservative Heritage Foundation.” [Washington Post Magazine, 1/2/19]
Vox Reported That The Federalist Society Helped Trump Identify Conservative Minds To Appoint To Judiciary. According to Vox, “The Federalist Society spent decades preparing for this moment, and they’ve helped Trump identify many of the most talented conservative stalwarts in the entire legal profession to place on the bench.” [Vox, 12/9/19]
¶ Leonard Leo Of The Federalist Society Effectively Chose Judicial Nominees For Trump
March 2016: Leo Met With Trump To Discuss The Courts And Gave Trump A List Of Possible Supreme Court Nominees. According to the Washington Post, "In March 2016, Leo met with Trump and Federalist Society member Donald McGahn at the Washington law firm Jones Day, just as Trump was beginning to prevail in his quest to be the Republican nominee, Leo told The Post. Justice Scalia had just died, and the men were mulling the implications. McGahn had come up with the idea of generating a list of potential Supreme Court nominees that Trump could disclose to win over moderates. Leo said he briefed Trump about the current composition of the court, the ideology of the justices and the like. As Leo tells it, Trump was open to one of his long-held goals: A federal court system dominated by conservative judges who believe the Constitution must be interpreted literally. Leo later gave the president a list of possible Supreme Court nominees. Trump released the list during the primary campaign, a gesture that helped him win the support of skeptical mainstream Republicans. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were added to the list later." [Washington Post, 5/21/19]
The Washington Post Reported That Leonard Leo, EVP Of The Federalist Society, Was Trump’s “Unofficial Judicial Advisor” Who Held Incredible Influence Over Trump And McConnell’s Reshaping Of The Judiciary. According to the Washington Post, "Leonard Leo stepped onto the stage in a darkened Florida ballroom, looked out at a gathering of some of the nation's most powerful conservative activists and told them they were on the cusp of fulfilling a long-sought dream. For two decades, Leo has been on a mission to turn back the clock to a time before the U.S. Supreme Court routinely expanded the government’s authority and endorsed new rights such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Now, as President Trump’s unofficial judicial adviser, he told the audience at the closed-door event in February that they had to mobilize in ‘very unprecedented ways’ to help finish the job. […] At a time when Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are rapidly reshaping federal courts by installing conservative judges and Supreme Court justices, few people outside government have more influence over judicial appointments now than Leo. He is widely known as a confidant to Trump and as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, an influential nonprofit organization for conservative and libertarian lawyers that has close ties to Supreme Court justices. But behind the scenes, Leo is the maestro of a network of interlocking nonprofits working on media campaigns and other initiatives to sway lawmakers by generating public support for conservative judges." [Washington Post, 5/21/19]
¶ Twenty-Five Of 30 Trump Judicial Appointees Were Federalist Society Members
McGahn Denied The Influence Of The Federalist Society, But 25 Of 30 Appeals Court Justices Appointed By Trump Were Members. According to the Washington Post Magazine, “The next most important segment of the judiciary — the federal appeals courts — is also filling up with Federalist Society members: Twenty-five of the 30 appeals court judges Trump has appointed are or were members of the society. ‘Our opponents of judicial nominees frequently claim the president has outsourced his selection of judges,’ McGahn quipped to a Federalist Society gathering in 2017. ‘That is completely false. I’ve been a member of the Federalist Society since law school. Still am. So, frankly, it seems like it’s been in-sourced.’” [Washington Post Magazine, 1/2/19]
¶ Trump Has Spent Little Time Campaigning Since He Secured The Republican Nomination
¶ In The Weeks After Effectively Winning The 2024 Presidential Nomination, Trump Spent Little Time Campaigning
In The Weeks After Effectively Winning The 2024 GOP Nomination, Trump Held Just Two Events. According to CNN, “Joe Biden has been to every top battleground state but one since the Super Tuesday primaries. He has also been on unannounced calls pushing negotiators toward a Gaza ceasefire, among other official White House duties. Donald Trump has held one rally in a battleground state in those two and a half weeks, and shifted another to Ohio, in part to save on costs. He has also played in two golf tournaments at his Palm Beach golf club, among other activities at his club, like lunches with potential campaign donors that aides feel are about to start paying off big. […] Aside from his ongoing court appearances, which he’s chosen to make, Trump has remained almost entirely behind closed doors in Palm Beach, trying to drum up his lagging campaign fundraising and strategize about how to pay the $454 million bond he’s been ordered to pay after the judge in his New York civil fraud trial found that he and his company had lied about their assets for years.” [CNN, 3/20/24]
¶ Trump Allies Questioned His Work Ethic And Called Him Lazy
¶ Rex Tillerson Slammed Trump’s Work Ethic
Rex Tillerson On Trump: “Doesn’t Like To Read, Doesn’t Read Briefing Reports, Doesn’t Like To Get Into The Details Of A Lot Of Things.” According to the Associated Press, “During a rare public appearance in Houston on Thursday evening, Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO, discussed his difficult tenure working for Trump. He called the president ‘undisciplined’ and said the president ‘doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.’” [Associated Press, 12/7/18]
¶ Ann Coulter Called Trump “Lazy And Incompetent” Because He Failed To Build Wall
Ann Coulter Called Trump “Lazy And Incompetent” Because He Was Unable To Build The Wall. According to The Hill, “Conservative pundit Ann Coulter said Friday that President Trump is ‘lazy and incompetent’ and warned that he might face a challenger for the Republican presidential nomination if he does not uphold his promise to build a border wall. ‘We put this lunatic in the White House for one reason,’ she said on Yahoo News's Skullduggery podcast, claiming that she was simply reminding the president of his promise to deliver on securing border wall funding.” [The Hill, 2/1/19]
¶ Gary Cohn, The National Economic Council Director Under Trump WRote A SCathing Email About Trump’s Work Ethic
Gary Cohn Said That Trump Would Not Memos, Even If They Were Only A Page Long. According to Gary Cohn’s email, “It’s worse than you can imagine. An idiot surrounded by clowns. Trump won’t read anything—not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored. And his staff is no better. Kushner is an entitled baby who knows nothing. Bannon is an arrogant p---k who thinks he’s smarter than he is. Trump is less a person than a collection of terrible traits . . . I am in a constant state of terror and shock.” [Gary Cohn email via Vanity Fair, 2/18]
¶ Senator Corker Called The WHite house “Adult Day Care”
Twitter: Senator Corker: “It’s A Shame The White House Has Become An Adult Day Care Center.” According to Senator Corker’s Twitter, “It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.” [Twitter, @SenBobCorker, 10/8/17]
¶ Steve Bannon Compared Trump To A Child
Vanity Fair Reported That Bannon Called Trump A Child. According to Vanity Fair, “Bannon has also remarked on the toll the office has taken on Trump, telling advisers his former boss has ‘lost a step.’ ‘He’s like an 11-year-old child,” Bannon joked to a friend in November.’” [Vanity Fair, 12/17]
¶ John Kelly Said Trump Refused To Visit American Graves In France
Kelly Said Trump Refused To Visit American Graves In France. According to CNN, “‘What can I add that has not already been said?’ Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. ‘A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.’” [CNN, 10/2/23]
Four Sources Said That Trump Canceled The Visit To The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery Because He Was Afraid Of His Hair Getting Wet And He Did Not Think It Was Important. According to the Atlantic, “When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that ‘the helicopter couldn’t fly’ and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]