It is no surprise that a con artist whose business experience inevitably ended in failure and who liked to have near dictatorial power of the small group of people employed in the business he currently does run would have difficulties adjusting the realities of the White House and DC politics. Back when there was a minor movement to take the nomination away from Trump at the convention last year, I noted that he would be smart to let that happen. His campaign was a vanity run, meant to simply build his brand. But he fell in the love with the adulation from his fans and then, thanks to the unprecedented actions of James Comey, actually won the Presidency.
Now Trump is frustrated and angry. He told Reuters back in April, "I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier", which only shows how unprepared he was for the job. As time has gone on, though, he is apparently becoming increasingly disturbed and dangerous. He is quoted as saying that he "I hate everyone in the White House! There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!" He is described as becoming "unstable" and "unraveling". The loss of his chosen candidate, Luther Strange, in Alabama has shattered his sense of infallibility as "[h]e saw the cult of personality was broken."
More worrisome is the fact that top aides like Tillerson and Kelly are apparently only staying in their jobs, jobs that they also reportedly hate, simply to keep Trump from doing something reckless, like start a nuclear war. Apparently, there are reports that Tillerson and Kelly have had serious discussions about what they would do if Trump decided he wanted to launch a nuclear first-strike.
There is a reason that Bob Corker finally admitted what everyone in Capitol Hill knows, that Trump is unfit for office and may be setting us on the path to World War III. There is a reason that apparently at least three officials who attended the meeting in July have reported that Trump wanted to increase the nuclear arsenal by a factor of ten. There is a reason that Tillerson called Trump a "moron". There is a reason the leaks about the President's mental state are coming out now. The reason, while rarely overtly stated, is just something "everyone knows". The reason is that there is an increasing fear that Trump will actually pull the nuclear trigger. In addition, they also fear, but to a lesser degree, that Trump's decertification of the Iran deal will give the Iranians an excuse to restart their own nuclear program and create potential nuclear confrontations on two fronts.
In his press gaggle yesterday, Trump said in response to a question about North Korea, "I think I have a little different attitude on North Korea than other people might have...but ultimately my attitude is the one that matters, isn't it. That's the it works. That's the way the system is." Words like that will send another shock wave through Washington. Whether it forces Republicans to act is another question, simply because their beloved tax cuts may have a higher priority than saving us and the world from Trump going nuclear.
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