President Donald Trump’s behavior behind closed doors has grown erratic enough to rattle the people closest to him, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that a sense of gloom has descended on the White House less than a week before Election Day, with the president shrinking his circle of confidants, lashing out at detractors and brushing aside polls that show how unpopular he has become. The Times spoke with 16 current and former administration officials and Trump allies, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Many Republicans in competitive races have tried to put space between themselves and the president, and some GOP advisers and outside groups have privately cautioned his aides that his battleground rallies may hurt more than help. Trump has brushed off those concerns, determined to make the midterms a referendum on himself.
According to The Times, the president is spending more time with a handful of trusted loyalists. Natalie Harp, a devoted aide, has moved into the private dining room off the Oval Office, where Trump watches TV and sorts through piles of printed news stories.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, meanwhile, regularly drops into Trump’s cabin on Air Force One with memes and posters, including one he made of Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), whose backside Trump has admired. One administration official likened Pulte to a court jester, and the president’s media diet was described as heavy on flattering coverage and “A.I. slop.”
Unflattering coverage still sends him into a rage. Over the weekend, Trump tuned in to Bill Maher’s show to watch former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, only to become incensed when Maher’s monologue raised Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He then dictated a roughly 1,300-word Truth Social post to Harp aboard Air Force One, telling Maher, “You’re not transformative, you’re a Loser!”
Trump has also been bragging to allies about his rally crowds while noting that Vice President JD Vance, widely seen as the 2028 GOP front-runner, has not drawn the same numbers. White House spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez rushed to the vice president’s defense, saying, “Donald Trump is the hardest working person in the country, followed by JD Vance.”
Advisers bracing for Republicans to lose at least the House expect Trump to shake up his staff depending on Tuesday’s results. A Democratic majority would bring the kind of oversight and constraints Trump is fighting to fend off.
In a statement, Alvarez insisted the president’s team “remains strong, united and focused.”
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