President Donald Trump became the butt of jokes all over the world this week when he offered to purchase Greenland and angrily canceled a visit to Denmark after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the proposal as “absurd.” The headlines, Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker note in a report for the New York Times, sounded like something The Onion would make up — only it really happened. But Haberman and Baker stress that to former Trump Administration officials, the president’s erratic behavior is no laughing matter. And those who have worked with the president, according to Haberman and Baker, are growing increasingly worried about his actions — especially with the 2020 election only 15 months away and the U.S. economy possibly going into a recession.
“Some former Trump Administration officials in recent days said they were increasingly worried about the president’s behavior, suggesting it stems from rising pressure on Mr. Trump as the economy seems more worrisome and next year’s election approaches,” Haberman and Baker report. And the current makeup of the Trump Administration, they go on to say, only makes matters worse: at this point, according to the Times reporters, Trump has too many sycophants and not nearly enough constructive criticism.
“After casting off advisers who displeased him at a record rate in his first two and a half years in office,” Haberman and Baker explain, “Mr. Trump now has fewer aides around him willing or able to challenge him — much less restrain his more impulsive instincts.”
View the complete August 22 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.