Emerging from a disastrous December in which his administration suffered prominent, confidence-shaking departures as well as a completely avoidable, still ongoing shutdown of the federal government, President Trump decided to hold a cabinet meeting today.
Any naive expectations that he might try to do some damage control were quickly dashed as Trump descended into a truly unhinged, lie-riddled stream of consciousness that makes some of his previous rhetorical ramblings sound like the Gettysburg Address. The meeting lasted almost two hours, and Jeff Mason of Reuters live-tweeted most of it, sharing the most inane and insane things to tumble out of the president’s mouth.
White House press pool has now exited the cabinet room after roughly one hour and 45 minutes. pic.twitter.com/LCwFo20EY1
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 2, 2019
Not surprisingly, Trump wasted much of the meeting bellyaching about the fact that he hasn’t managed to build his pointless wall along the Mexican border. Despite the fact that he insisted repeatedly in the past that Mexico would pay for the construction, Trump has now pivoted to attacking the Democrats for refusing to give him billions of dollars to waste on the racist pet project.
During the cabinet meeting, Trump made the completely unfounded claim that there are 30-35 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States right now. The actual number is somewhere closer to 11 million. The president’s lie is obviously aimed at exaggerating the need for a border wall, but even if there were 35 million undocumented individuals living here, the vast majority of them arrive here legally and overstay their visas, something that the wall would be powerless to stop.
Trump says, without evidence, there are probably 30-35 million people in the United States illegally
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 2, 2019
President Trump took time to mention Senator-Elect Mitt Romney (R-UT), who just yesterday published a piece in The Washington Post criticizing Trump’s lack of character. Trump said he hopes Romney proves to be a “team player,” which is just his way of saying he hopes the incoming senator will shut up and mindlessly support his administration’s agenda. He also disrespectfully fired a shot off at the late Senator John McCain, lamenting his now-famous vote against Trump’s ill-devised and destructive Obamacare repeal.
.@realDonaldTrump says he wishes @MittRomney would be more of a team player, then criticizes John McCain for his healthcare vote pic.twitter.com/tLIA1T9f4T
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 2, 2019
Slipping into his comforting delusions, Trump claimed that he could be the most “popular person in Europe” and run for any office there if he wanted to, a pathetic attempt to paper over how deeply unpopular he is on the other side of the Atlantic.
TRUMP on his low approval ratings in Europe: "I could be the most popular person in Europe. I could run for any office if I wanted to. I don't want to." pic.twitter.com/6qltEZeeuL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019
Shannon Pettypiece of Bloomberg News tweeted that Trump also stopped to insult departing Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a lifelong military man who still commands a great degree of respect from both sides of the aisle.
Mattis reportedly chose to vacate his cabinet position because he could no longer sit back and watch Trump’s disastrous foreign policy unfold., with the president’s announcement that he would be unceremoniously withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria proving to be the final straw.
The president — himself a draft dodger whose father convinced a doctor to lie to get his son a medical exemption from service in the Vietnam War — impugned Mattis’s record, calling into question his service in Afghanistan by calling it “not too good” before bragging about “firing” him. It was just the latest barrage in a long string of disparaging comments Trump has made about members of the military.
Trump on Mattis at Cabinet meeting:
"What's he done for me? How had he done in Afghanistan? Not too good"
"As you know, president Obama fired him, and essentially so did I "
via @ToluseO— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) January 2, 2019
Trump also made the delusional and laughable claim that he would have made a good general, something which no thinking person could actually believe.
Trump adds "I think I would've been a good general, but who knows" via @ToluseO https://t.co/ziQmZNEIiZ
— Shannon Pettypiece (@spettypi) January 2, 2019
Trump attacks Mattis: "What has he done for me? How has he done in Afghanistan? Not too good. I'm not happy with what he's done in Afghanistan & I shouldn't be happy…So I mean, I wish him well. I hope he does well. Obama fired him and essentially so did I. I want results." pic.twitter.com/Zo8D70m8mK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019
Trump made mention of Kanye West’s recent Twitter support for him, something which neither matters nor deserves mention during a cabinet meeting, yet another sign that the president is far more concerned with managing his public image than actually governing.
as we pass the hour mark on today's cabinet meeting, the president is now talking about how kanye west has praised him (buy @ToluseO a drink if you see him)
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) January 2, 2019
President Trump went on to say that the government shutdown could last a “long time,” once again trying to appear tough in his vain efforts to secure border wall funding. He lacks the leverage to get what he wants due to the incoming Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, so all of this blustering is just that.
Trump says government could be shut down for a “long time”
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 2, 2019
Daniel Dale of The Toronto Star recounted weird comments Trump made about meeting with his generals in which he praised them as “better looking than Tom Cruise, and stronger.” He said they looked like they were from a movie, once again demonstrating his strange obsession with the appearances of his staff members over their actual substance. Obviously, a general’s attractiveness has nothing to do with his military capabilities.
TRUMP: "I had a meeting at the Pentagon with lots of generals. They were like from a movie. Better looking than Tom Cruise, & stronger. And I had more generals than I've ever seen, & we were at the bottom of this incredible room. I said, 'this is greatest room I've ever seen.'" pic.twitter.com/fTpgDXVso8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019
Trump says he had a meeting about Iran and the Middle East with lots of good-looking generals: "Like from a movie. Better looking than Tom Cruise, and stronger."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019
At another point, Trump trotted out his favorite tactic of casting himself as a victim, bemoaning the fact that he was forced to stay all alone in the White House over the holidays due to the shutdown, saying that the Secret Service agents with their “machine guns” wouldn’t even wave at him.
Trump says he was all alone in his "big house" over the holidays — "except for all of the guys out on the lawn with machine guns." He says that he's never seen so many machine guns, and they didn't even wave at him. He adds, "All alone with the machine-gunners."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019
TRUMP on his lonely holidays at the White House: "I was here on Christmas evening, I was all by myself in the White House. That's a big, big house. Except for all the guys out on the lawn with machine guns… I was hoping that maybe somebody would come back and negotiate." pic.twitter.com/cHDlHgbyMi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2019
If today’s jaw-dropping performance is a sign of what the American people can expect going forward, 2019 could prove to be an even more disastrous, confusing year than 2018. As Daniel Dale put it so succinctly, Trump wasn’t very hinged today.
Trump's hingedness level was not high today.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 2, 2019
The president will continue unraveling before our eyes, and the looming results of the Mueller investigation are sure to drive him off the edge before long.
