- 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.
Oh this is too good. https://twitter.com/danbl00m/status/1037428190166347776 If it is Pence, he might know that Trump is going down soon, and is positioning himself with this Op-Ed.
Now that I saw this tweet, I can't unread it as Pence. It kind of reads like future campaign fodder in that light.
He said, “lodestar.” -as read by Butthead. Very interesting to consider this is Pence’s mea culpa. What does a post Trmp world even look like? Can we walk back? I can’t imagine being excited for my kid to tell Me that one day they’d like to be President. Not anymore.
FTFY: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.
The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as THE REPUBLICAN PARTY have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.
As a European this essay is an amazing read. I'm not at all surprised by the content, I've long suspected these people exist. I am however surprised that this person chose to publish this, because it's going to be enormously counter-productive, in that Trump is now aware that some of his closest are working against him. I have so many questions, and without a chance to get them answered, I have speculation. My first reaction was that this seemed like a huge mistake by whoever wrote it, but after giving it some thought, maybe not. Let's have a look at who would benefit by publishing this: 1. Mike Pence As has been pointed out, the writing sounds suspiciously like the vice president. If the president was to be removed, for example by invoking the 25th amendment, Pence would become president, and thus would have a lot to gain from it. The essay even mentions this possibility: Just by mentioning it, especially in an essay this person knows will be the most talked about piece of writing this week, they get more people talking about this possibility. In combination with Trump being guaranteed to act even more crazy over the next weeks, this essay might actually be what sets in motion the invocation of the 25th amendment, making Pence the new president. 2. Someone who hates Mike Pence As has been pointed out, the writing sounds suspiciously like the vice president. Surely the he would know to hide his tracks better? Someone is going to point out to Trump that this sounds like Pence, and the president is going to be furious. Whoever really wrote this, Pence is going to feel the consequences. 3. Republicans Recent polls show the Democrats up by double digits, with midterm elections just two months away. In all likelihood the midterms will be a disaster for Republicans. (Never take anything for granted though. Remember to vote!) By posting this, they're telling the people out there that it's safe to vote for the reds despite Trump, because the republicans are perfectly able to control Trump's foul impulses. They don't need a Democrat-controlled house to do that. The author may still have been Pence, just with "nobler" ideals behind it. Or it may still have been written by someone pretending to be Pence, because he's the only one Trump can't fire. 4. Trump Since this essay was posted anonymously, it's impossible to verify, and therefore provides excellent fodder for Trump's campaign against the free press. If the New York Times actually was to post fabricated news to harm the president, this is exactly how they'd do it. That's the way this will be presented to Trump's cultists, and they're going to eat it up, galvanising them against the free press. That's going to be useful when the Mueller investigation steadily gets closer to him. 5. Anyone in the administration (other than Trump) hoping for a political career after 2020. Someone has pointed out that this essay may be a sign of the imminent collapse of the Trump administration. If that was to happen, one way to avoid the fallout would be to publish such an essay beforehand, then publish proof of authorship after the collapse. That way this person can claim that they were not to blame for any of the disastrous things done by the Trump administration. On the contrary, they're a hero for preventing something much worse! #AnonymousEssayWriter2020 Let me hear, which option is your money on?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.
I don't think that the Times would publish something like this without having confirmed that the author is indeed a "senior administration official", so #4 is out. My money is on #2, but I'm cheering for #1 because it'd be most politically damaging to Trump.
Seen this as a comment on reddit. Sounds reasonable. What do you guys think? How dare you. How fucking dare you. If the president is as insane as you claim he is, the only possible remedy is to come out with it, say it publicly, and let our democracy decide what to do. Anything less than that is a coup (if one with a slightly different flavor than the one being carried out by Russia). If the 25th amdendment needs to be invoked, it is by your silence that the American people have been denied the chance to demand it. You're not part of "The Resistance". What you're part of is the greater effort by the GOP to take advantage of Putin's money and Donald Trump's criminal rise to power, for your personal gain. What you're doing (as I suspect you damn well know) is helping the GOP ram a cruel agenda through our system, and rob the American people of their wealth, their representation, and their basic dignity for generations to come, while trying to pin the blame for it on Trump. You do not get to unilaterally decide that it's your responsibility to be Secret President on behalf of this monster. You do not get to use your position to live out this weird spy thriller novel that you've written yourself into, and tell me that I should be grateful for it. You do not get to risk our lives, our values, our electoral integrity, hell, our national sovereignty, just so you can try to rehabilitate your terminally corrupt party. Resign. Confess. And never work in politics again.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.
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.
You do not get to unilaterally decide that it's your responsibility to be Secret President on behalf of this monster. You do not get to use your position to live out this weird spy thriller novel that you've written yourself into, and tell me that I should be grateful for it. Spicy and cathartic. The idea they are setting themself up now makes me wonder where we are on Mueller's timeline.You're not part of "The Resistance".
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. Unless bureaucratic shenanigans count as war (in which case my life is a lot more metal than I thought), pretty much never.
mk's Twitter find is an interesting one. But I'm not sure how much of this is just a rather drastic attempt at throwing a bone to moderate Republicans/independents. And I mean, it's also more than a little hypocritical. Just like they did by choosing to stage a quiet (if incomplete) coup (as pointed out by PTR) versus trusting American institutions to work properly?See, we know he's crazy, but you can trust the rest of us.
But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics....
Actually, a second thought just occurred to me. The real test of how true this is will be Trump's reaction to it.
Why is this news? I think I remember Fire & Fury discussing multiple 'dissenters' like this - people who push back from inside the White House and try to make something out of the administration despite Trump. If I recall correctly the book also mentions that most of those people didn't last long.
Because it's an op-ed in the NYT by someone within. It has a historical gravitas that the other channels have not. It's also the first time that we've been privy to the rationale of "the resistance. The fact that there has been consideration of the 25th amendment is interesting. Also, it ends on a note that seems hopeful that he won't last 4 years. It doesn't make me feel much better. Trump is probably losing his shit right now.So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.
In public he is as cool, calm and collected as ever. https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1037456816601485316/video/1Trump is probably losing his shit right now.
It's a coup d'etat. If what they say is true, the only democratic recourse here is the 25th amendment, and this Op-Ed acknowledges they've considered it but won't do it. That's a hostile subversion of the Executive Office with intent to control its course - a coup.
Yeah, none of it sounds good. But one process is described in the Constitution, and the other is some anonymous, un-elected asshole making it up as they go along. I personally don't find Pence-as-author very convincing. "Lodestar" seems like a deliberate plant, especially in such a carefully written piece. The Op-Ed also uses the phrase "first principles" which is a favorite of Gen. Mattis. I think these phrases were used to throw off people trying to tell who authored the article. I don't think either of these men (Pence or Mattis) would take the first step to publish this piece, especially if they're favored to take the reins after Trump's removed. It's sets them too opposite to Trump's base too early on. I might be wrong, but if I'm playing a coup, I think it would be better to let someone more dispensable make these early forays - a senior official still, but a subordinate to the POTUS's eventual replacement.