This week, I have been reading “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” the recent volume from my newsroom colleagues Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the first year of President Trump’s second term.
It makes for compelling, often shocking, reading, and Haberman and Swan provide a great sense of the personalities involved in making the second Trump administration, as well as the relationships and dynamics that seem to drive his presidential decision-making.
Whenever I read an inside account of a presidency, I am on the lookout for anything that tells us something about the way the president in question relates to the office itself. Is there a particular way he manages the White House or attends to challenges and crises? On what issues does he defer to his staff members and subordinates versus take his own counsel? How does he deal with the endless stream of information and intelligence from a nearly infinite number of sources?
The growing complexity of the administrative state and the enlarged responsibilities of the office led presidents, beginning in earnest with Harry Truman, to create new, institutionalized processes designed to get the best and most accurate information available. In addition to practical considerations, this has been a way for presidents to combat one of the pathologies of executive authority: a tendency to value one’s own unique insight above all else. Even still, it is immensely difficult for presidents to avoid the trap, if you will, of getting high on their own supply.
Trump, according to Haberman and Swan, has not simply junked this process in its entirety — he has set up his White House to affirm his frequently arbitrary instincts above all other considerations. He has insulated himself from opposing views and made internal dissent verboten. At no point does Trump receive neutral information; just about everything is tailored to his whims, impulses and mercurial disposition. The result is that he is isolated from reality to the extent that he is practically living in a fairy tale.
Haberman and Swan describe a Trump who cannot see beyond the first few steps of any given action and is constantly taken aback by political obstacles and backlash. Recent controversies, from the depletion of our military’s stock of sophisticated munitions to worsening conditions on some of our naval vessels, are easier to fathom when you consider the strong odds that Trump is told precious little about the actual conditions of his war. More likely, he is told what he wants to hear: that America is winning and Iran is on the verge of surrender.
So far, much of the destruction of the second Trump administration is self-inflicted. It is Trump and his allies who have wrecked the administrative state, undercut science and mired the country in a new Middle East quagmire. There has not yet been an external crisis — the kind of catastrophic event that demands an active and effective leadership. Through their reporting, Haberman and Swan make clear that if and when this country faces such a crisis, both the president and his administration will be caught flat-footed.
When this happened in Trump’s first term with the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States still had a functional bureaucracy with experts willing and able to provide leadership in the absence of any from the White House. Should we see a similar disaster, we very likely won’t even have that.
What I Wrote
I was on child care duty for the first part of the week, so I did not have a chance to write a column. But I did speak to Tavis Smiley for the better part of an hour on his nationally syndicated radio show. I also have a YouTube channel where I post daily videos on the news. And on the latest episode of my podcast with John Ganz, Nicole Hemmer and I discussed the science-fiction thriller “Gattaca.”
Now Reading
Mark Danner on Trump’s “constitutional dictatorship” for The New York Review of Books.
James Butler on JD Vance’s latest memoir, “Communion,” for The London Review of Books.
Yarimar Bonilla on the water crisis in Puerto Rico for Boston Review.
Beth English and Christopher Sellers on the fight over American history for Dissent magazine.
Dara Lind on the Trump administration’s de-legalization of immigrants for The New Yorker.
Photo of the Week
A photo from our trip to San Antonio earlier this year.
Now Eating: Chile Tofu
I made this three times over the course of two weeks. It is easy, filling and delicious. If you want to make it even tastier, albeit less healthy, you should deep-fry your tofu rather than pan-fry it. Recipe comes from New York Times Cooking.
Ingredients
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½ cup cornstarch
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Sea salt and black pepper
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16 ounces extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
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3 tablespoons neutral oil such as vegetable or avocado, divided
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1 red or yellow onion, halved and cut into 1-inch chunks
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1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
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3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
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½ to 1 jalapeño, trimmed and thinly sliced (remove seeds for less heat)
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1 bell pepper (any color), core removed and cut into 1-inch chunks
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1 head (10-ounces) broccoli, trimmed and cut into small, bite-size florets
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2 scallions, thinly sliced
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White rice, to serve
Directions
Scatter ½ cup cornstarch onto a large plate or tray, season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a big pinch of black pepper and stir to combine. Add the tofu cubes and toss until coated on all sides.
Heat a large (12-inch) well-seasoned cast-iron or nonstick skillet on medium-high until hot. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of oil (enough to cover the base of the pan) and heat until the oil is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tofu and pan fry on each side until crispy, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Once all sides are golden, transfer the tofu to a plate.
Make the sauce: In a medium bowl, add the soy sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, sriracha and sugar and stir to combine. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ⅓ cup of water and whisk until the cornstarch is completely mixed in and the sauce is lump free.
Place the skillet back over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan along with the onion, ginger, garlic, and jalapeño and toss constantly until the onions have begun to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bell pepper and broccoli, season with 1 teaspoon of salt and stir fry just until the vegetables are crisp tender (or to your liking), 4 to 6 minutes. Give the sauce a quick stir and then add it to the vegetables and toss for just 20 to 30 seconds, until it has thickened up. Add the tofu and toss until it is coated in the sauce and remove from heat immediately.
To serve, top with scallions and eat with rice.
The post Trump Is in a Fantasy Land of His Own Making appeared first on New York Times.
