saying he was very glad I wanted to stay, adding that he had heard great things

about me from Jim Mattis, Jeff Sessions, and many others. He then said, “I need

loyalty.” I replied, “You will always get honesty from me.” He paused and then

said, “That’s what I want, honest loyalty.” I paused, and then said, “You will get

that from me.” As I wrote in the memo I created immediately after the dinner, it is

possible we understood the phrase “honest loyalty” differently, but I decided it

wouldn’t be productive to push it further. The term – honest loyalty – had helped

end a very awkward conversation and my explanations had made clear what he

should expect.