I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers. We invite you to submit a question about the essay or our vetting process here.
President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.
It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.
The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.
But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.
That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.
The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.
Although he was elected as a Republican, the president shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.
In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people,” President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.
Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.
But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.
From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims.
Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.
“There is literally no telling whether he might change his mind from one minute to the next,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by an Oval Office meeting at which the president flip-flopped on a major policy decision he’d made only a week earlier.
The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.
It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.
The result is a two-track presidency.
Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.
Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals.
On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.
This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.
Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.
The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.
Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.
We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.
There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.
The writer is a senior official in the Trump administration.
Poster Comment:
#8: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#3)
Opining anonymously to the press is not treason, no matter how much you Trump cultists would like it to be.
It’s getting close to the time to water that tree of Liberty.
You gonna start with who exactly?
Deckard posted on 2018-09-06 09:12:49 Reply Private Reply
#9: misterwhite To: Willie Green (#0)
It is the lying media mass-marketing the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people”, not Trump.
Trump never said the press is the “enemy of the people”. He said on Twitter "fake news" was the enemy of the people. But I can see where the press gets the two mixed up since all they publish is fake news.
"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
misterwhite posted on 2018-09-06 09:22:03 Reply Private Reply
#10: Willie Green To: VxH (#6)
That was way back in 1933... The Times has long since denounced Walter Duranty's bungling reporting.
But in the digital age we all live in today, I don't know why you're still harping about ancient history when foreign correspondents filed their reports using carrier pigeons. Ain't nobody got time for that.
You really think Pence would step aside for Ryan?
Willie Green posted on 2018-09-06 09:27:01 Reply Private Reply
#11: misterwhite To: Deckard (#8)
It is when those "opinions" disclose treasonous behavior such as "thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office" and "There is a quiet resistance within the administration" and “whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment".
Let's put Mueller on this. He's gung-ho to indict someone for something. Maybe the charge of treason won't stick, but let's take it to trial.
misterwhite posted on 2018-09-06 09:46:46 Reply Private Reply
#12: Liberator To: Deckard (#7)
Pathetic. Are you really now at the point where you can't even add 2 + 2??
What part of "ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL" didn't you get?
This is Insubordination as never seen within a Presidential administration, a "Resistor". (btw, TO WHAT?)
Do you understand the concept of "undermining authority"? Or are you full-anarchist now??
You really have jumped the shark this time. Sad to see. You used to be able to discern propaganda and theater from reality much better than most.
Personally, I like you but you now have a political blind spot the size of Bigfoot's azz..(OR, a '48 Chrysler).
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 10:44:47 Reply Private Reply
#13: Liberator To: Willie Green (#5)
I'd have to agree. I'd guess it may be Chao (who is McConnell's beard/wife.)
Remember -- Chao and McConnell and her family are opportunists, running a shipping scam with China. That means they are technically STEALING from We The People. (Or isn't THAT an ugly situation to an old socialist like you?)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 10:48:13 Reply Private Reply
#14: Liberator To: misterwhite (#11)
Yes. Ought to be interesting when he indicts Weaselstein for writing the Op-Ed.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 10:49:22 Reply Private Reply
#15: Liberator To: GrandIsland (#3)
It is either more desperate made-up BS from the New York Propaganda Times...OR is actually true.
Either way, this treasonous rag (owned by Soros and other NWO'ers) is trying its best to help cause CW2 (their agenda) before the mid-terms when the GOP crushes the Dem-Commie Party. When that happens Trump cleans frickin' house.
It’s getting close to the time to water that tree of Liberty.
I would start with the MSM.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 10:53:54 Reply Private Reply
#16: Liberator To: Willie Green (#0)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 10:55:36 Reply Private Reply
#17: Deckard To: Liberator (#12)
Insubordination? Absolutely.
Treason? Not by a long shot.
Plenty of R's were trying to undermine Obabma I'm sure.
No one was calling that "treason"
Deckard posted on 2018-09-06 12:26:51 Reply Private Reply
#18: Justified To: Deckard (#7)
Do you read one word and stop?
Speaking anonymously to the press is not treason.
No. Being hired to work for the president but really there to undermine his presidency is a crime. Its like being hired to work for GM and then funnel company secrets to their competitor. But worse.
Justified posted on 2018-09-06 14:01:08 Reply Private Reply
#19: Liberator To: Deckard (#17)
Insubordination is a serious matter -- especially BY an alleged member of Trump's admin. May not be "Treason" but easily considered Sedition. )Beside OTHER charges.
The gravity of this situation is grave. I don't know whether you or others realize just to what degree.
Plenty of R's were trying to undermine Obabma I'm sure.
No one was calling that "treason"
You're presuming...
And anyway, there is no remote equivalent of what's just gone on in this case. THIS is..Bizarro Word. Deep State Witch Hunt is bad enough...(NOTHING 0bama had to go through either.)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-06 15:52:08 Reply Private Reply
#20: Hondo68 To: Willie Green (#5)
Who would object?
Hondo68 posted on 2018-09-06 17:01:06 Reply Private Reply
#21: GrandIsland To: Liberator (#15)
I agree. That’s killing two birds with one stone since MSM are mostly ultra libs.
GrandIsland posted on 2018-09-06 17:58:24 Reply Private Reply
#22: GrandIsland To: Justified (#18)
How do you think Dicktard would react if by some miracle, Ron Paultard won presidency, and the press propagated this bullshit?
GrandIsland posted on 2018-09-06 18:01:22 Reply Private Reply
#23: Justified To: GrandIsland (#22)
That's something that will never come up because RP will never win.
I hate bashing RP who is a nice guy and we could do much worse. But your right people have gotten extreme. The left has given in to the extreme left commies but the right resist far right anarchist.
Justified posted on 2018-09-06 18:09:07 Reply Private Reply
#24: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#22)
Actually - I agree with Trump. The anonymous "insider" who penned the op-ed is a gutless coward (not unlike you for instance) for not signing his name to it.
The point is that writing such a screed does not rise to the crime of treason.
Trump needs to grow up and not be such a twitter drama queen.
Deckard posted on 2018-09-06 18:26:19 Reply Private Reply
#25: Justified To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#24)
That's north east attitude. In the south its foreign to us and its hard to deal with at times.
Since he was hired to do a job and coming in with other motives means he can be charge with a whole bunch of stuff depending on his level and job description. This assumes there is actually a person and its not just fake news again from the MSM.
Justified posted on 2018-09-06 18:37:42 Reply Private Reply
#26: Jameson To: Willie Green (#0)
The Kremlin's director of US operations has proven himself to be incapable of carrying out their orders or even continuing to act as the American President.
Dip-Shit Donnie is a degenerate lying sack-of-shit and a traitorous anti- american ass-clown.
He must be removed from office immediately!
Of course, the shit-blizzard he will unleash will reveal his true allegiance ...
The GOP will pay for his crimes
Jameson posted on 2018-09-06 18:46:02 Reply Private Reply
#27: A K A Stone To: Jameson (#26)
Do you really believe what you post? If so it sounds like you are a propagandist traitor.
Are you really that stupid?
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-06 21:41:42 Reply Private Reply
#28: GrandIsland To: A K A Stone (#27)
I’m betting the snowflake won’t answer... so I’ll do it for him.
Yes, yes he is.
GrandIsland posted on 2018-09-06 22:00:50 Reply Private Reply
#29: Jameson To: A K A Stone (#27)
Dip-Shit Donnie is a degenerate - Noun - an immoral or corrupt person.
So yes, I believe this because it is true.
Dip-Shit Donnie is a lying sack-of-shit
Yes I believe this because it is a proven fact.
Dip-Shit Donnie is a traitorous anti-american ass-clown.
Indeed. At his direction, his surrogates conspired with hostile foreign agents in an effort to deny the American people a fair and honest election.
These actions are certainly anti-American. Furthermore, he acts like an ass, and looks like a clown.
He must be removed from office immediately!
He is unfit to serve, lead, or have any official presidential duties.
Of course, the shit-blizzard he will unleash will reveal his true allegiance ...
When the time comes, it will be ugly. He will blame everyone but himself and attempt to justify his actions.
The GOP will pay for his crimes
I believe that this period in history will mark the point at which the republican party lost much of it's relevance, the brand will be irreversibly tarnished.
Jameson posted on 2018-09-07 07:36:49 Reply Private Reply
#30: A K A Stone To: Jameson (#29)
You're making stuff up delusion boy.
Show some proof snowflake.
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-07 08:05:16 Reply Private Reply
#31: A K A Stone To: Jameson (#29)
Actually if would be better to remove you from breathing. You should be executed by Donald Trumps government for treason and sedition. I would personally pull the trigger if you were found guilty.
Comprende snowflake asshole.
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-07 08:06:31 Reply Private Reply
#32: A K A Stone To: Jameson (#29)
Go suck some aids faggot.
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-07 08:06:55 Reply Private Reply
#33: A K A Stone To: Jameson (#29)
Can you name one democrat who is not immoral? Beause all you democrats are for murdering children. For perverting sex. For stealing wealth to dispense to losers.
Every democrat is a corrupt piece of shit that should be put on trial then executed. Including you. Ok asshole.
Also Trump isn't corrupt he is great.
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-07 08:12:37 Reply Private Reply
#34: Liberator To: GrandIsland (#21)
+1000.
We start with the traitors of MSNBC. Slide on over to CNN....But those are easy marks.
FNC doesn't come out o this unscathed either:
Shep. But he's obvious. Then there's Bret. And especially the other Brett....Hume. The latter two downplay ALL Dem shenanigans. Hume is a despicable Globalist and NWO Puppet if you listen to him.
WaPo, the Grey Hag and crap like Esquire and Newsweak.
Moe type of B-Slaps before proper sentencing ;-)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 10:54:11 Reply Private Reply
#35: Liberator To: A K A Stone (#33)
LOL...After all...they ARE totally immoral AND Traitors. And trying to execute US, albeit a bit slower. Like torture.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 10:55:56 Reply Private Reply
#36: Liberator To: A K A Stone (#30)
Of course he/she/it is.
Consistent intellectual dishonesty and corrupt anti-logic is something I really despise. It is...literally satanic.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 10:57:24 Reply Private Reply
#37: Deckard To: Liberator, A K A Stone (#34)
Regardless of what the "anonymous" writer says is true or not, he's a still gutless coward.
I wouldn't have a problem with Trump employing some experts who could determine by the writing style who penned this op-ed. Maybe even go so far as a polygraph.
Anonymous Tell-Alls in The New York Times Are More of a Threat to the Republic Than Trump
Deckard posted on 2018-09-07 11:16:46 Reply Private Reply
#38: Liberator To: Deckard, A K A Stone (#37)
The MAIN problem: The NYT LIES. And I mean ALL the time.
This so-called "letter rom an admin insider" is DESIGNED to mock the Trump admin and create the illusion of paranoia and dissension.
I call total bulls*** on the entire stunt. I'd dismiss it as...A JOKE if I were the Trump people.
Btw, the use of "Lodestar" was calculated to finger Pence. NO SALE on THAT theory either.
The MSM-Globalist-Left are way outta control.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 11:27:10 Reply Private Reply
#39: A K A Stone To: Deckard, liberator, nolu chan, jameson (#37)
https://twitter.com/MightyCassandra/status/1037695644180377603?s=19
A K A Stone posted on 2018-09-07 11:35:38 Reply Private Reply
#40: Liberator To: A K A Stone, Deckard, nolu chan, jameson (#39)
Hoax City...NOT surprised. Not surprised that the NYT would run ANY lie. (Wait till Trump gets a hold of this...)
Nolu...your thoughts??
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 11:42:59 Reply Private Reply
#41: Fred Mertz To: A K A Stone (#39)
Fred Mertz posted on 2018-09-07 11:43:50 Reply Private Reply
#42: Deckard To: A K A Stone, Liberator (#39)
Great! Now this will be the top news story on all the MSM networks tonight.
OK - maybe just on FOX.
Deckard posted on 2018-09-07 11:48:31 Reply Private Reply
#43: Fred Mertz To: Deckard (#42)
I did a cursory news search and didn't find anything about this.
If true, it should be a big deal IMO.
Fred Mertz posted on 2018-09-07 12:00:22 Reply Private Reply
#44: Jameson To: Deckard (#42)
Doubtful.
A random claim on twitter......not awfully credible....
Jameson posted on 2018-09-07 12:04:36 Reply Private Reply
#45: Fred Mertz To: Jameson (#44)
You are likely correct, Jameson. Thanks for the reality check.
If it's on the Internet it must be true. /sarc
Fred Mertz posted on 2018-09-07 12:07:55 Reply Private Reply
#46: Hondo68 To: Fred Mertz, off balance (#45)
Hondo68 posted on 2018-09-07 12:11:26 Reply Private Reply
#47: Liberator To: Deckard, A K A Stone (#42)
Do you doubt this bust?
Yes. ONLY on FNC because ONLY they report actual "news". (Except when Shemp, Bret and Brett stamp their Statist-neutral spin on the truth.)
The other Soviet-MSM networks are with 110% certainty...anti-Troof, anti-Freedom, and anti-America. They are stabbing America in the back. REPEATEDLY. I'd welcome the day these Enemies of Liberty are rounded up.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:21:03 Reply Private Reply
#48: Liberator To: Fred Mertz, Jameson (#45)
LMAO. Chyeah, right.
Freddy...Jameson hasn't been "right" since before that lower primate second brain transplant. (and frankly, I worry about you.)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:23:00 Reply Private Reply
#49: Liberator To: Jameson, Deckard, A K A Stone (#44)
Bwaahaa!!!
From the guy and Leftist Cabal that KNEEL at the Altar of Random Claims.
Rich.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:24:50 Reply Private Reply
#50: Fred Mertz To: Liberator (#48)
I did at first and no longer do.
Fred Mertz posted on 2018-09-07 12:25:54 Reply Private Reply
#51: Liberator To: hondo68 (#46)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:27:10 Reply Private Reply
#52: Liberator To: Fred Mertz (#50)
To be honest, I haven't totally vetted it. Others will.
Why don't YOU buy it??
Btw Fred, Seriously...How in the h*** can you buy the constant Leftist bull and hoaxes? It's a new one EVERY WEEK.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:28:50 Reply Private Reply
#53: Liberator To: Fred Mertz (#43)
+100
YUGE. (yes, if true.)
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 12:29:52 Reply Private Reply
#54: Hondo68 To: Liberator (#51)
The Trump legacy continues.
Hondo68 posted on 2018-09-07 12:30:59 Reply Private Reply
#55: Fred Mertz To: Liberator (#52)
How do you arrive at that conclusion? I read news items with an open mind and realize the NYT went against all 'normal' journalistic rules when they published the anonymous letter.
Color me skeptical.
Fred Mertz posted on 2018-09-07 12:33:10 Reply Private Reply
#56: Deckard To: Liberator (#47)
I don't doubt it all - my comment about the MSM reporting this recent development was obviously meant as sarcasm.
Think the NYT will run a retraction or a mea culpa apologizing for running this?
Deckard posted on 2018-09-07 12:52:15 Reply Private Reply
#57: Liberator To: Fred Mertz, Deckard (#55)
Well, that should go without saying as we witness the literal daily BS from Leftist MSM organs. How does one believe ANY thing they claim? Crying WOLF! every day makes most logic-minded people just assume they lie all the time. Because the truth exposes them and their subversive, divisive agenda.
I'm far less "skeptical" of info and data emerging from conservative websites and sources...precisely because what's under siege and being censored is...THE TRUTH. That's why Alex Jones was banned by Twitter.
Liberator posted on 2018-09-07 14:22:11 Reply Private Reply