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I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

Sept. 5, 2018

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.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html

Wow...

Simply amazing.
I think who ever wrote this is going to come to light sooner rather than later.

Woodwards book seems even more legit after this

"To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed"


Except Trump is a dope and we take credit for every good thing he has done as we save the world from him.

Too much.

Yes, it IS simply amazing. Until a name is put to it, it's nothing, though.


I could write something, call it anonymous, and have it published.

Can't wait to read their book when they finally get caught and fired!

40, I don't find anything funny here at all. There is either a coup d'etat in the WH or an unhinged unfit President, actually both are likely legally.

Any guesses as to who this might be?

Think for a minute.

If the President is nuts, wouldn't this person want to make their name public to add weight to the problem?

If Mattis and Kelly came out and said they are the source, that would carry a lot of weight and America could react.

But this person is basically saying they are saving us all while taking credit for Trump's accomplishments. They proclaim themselves to be the heroes of the land, protector of children and the Statue of Liberty.

Come on already.

If they are talking about 25th Amendment whispers in the cabinet, I'm wondering if they are in the cabinet. Jeff Sessions?

And you are right 40 they should come out and hopefully will. Trump will immediately fire them and that is probably their biggest concern. Once they are out they can do nothing.

Impossible to be credible without putting your name on it. The NYtimes could make this up and no one could argue it (not saying they did). Not to mention Trump has been on an anti NYT diatribe for 2 years.

I think it's real enough, the NYT is not going to burn itself with a BS op ed targeted at Trump. You can be damn sure they know and can prove who it is.

Question is now, what are we supposed to do with this?

Yeah. We used to have real news. Now, it's 'un named sources", or "High level un named sources...."

It's just a game at this point. Fess up, whoever this un named person is. Until that time, it's nothing but a rumor.

Just like with Woodward and all his quotes. Now, he's written a book he wants to sell, I get it. Most of the people he's quoted have now said "I didn't say that."

Perhaps they are lying because they have a cushy job, I don't know.


But, I do know this: It would be easy to make up anything I want, and report it as fact by saying "un named sources have told me......"

The name will come out because the press is on this like a dog on a bone. You can bet Trump will be on it too.

"If I weren't here, I believe the New York Times probably wouldn't exist," the president said to laughter and applause from the assembled sheriffs. "And someday when I'm not president, which hopefully will be in about six-and-a-half years from now, The New York Times and CNN and all of these phony media outlets will be out of business ... because there'll be nothing to write."

Not necessarily. If you see a pending disaster and the only way you can possibly prevent the disaster is from the inside.. but outing the cause of the disaster will get you immediately removed and replaced with somebody who buys into the disaster.. then you remain silent and do what you can.

I think those dismissing this entirely because there is no name on it are failing to see just how plausible this is..

Just like Woodward's book and all the books before it, the Trump haters will eat this up and the Trump supporters will once again roll their eyes.

I watched this lash out live 40, and what you see as a strong leader I see as a man struggling to maintain control.

I also watched it live as he met with the Sheriffs from the border states.
Seemed like the President of the United States was on it and in charge. The Sheriffs all agreed by their applause.

Exactly, far too many people who put party over country and confirmation bias over the truth...

Omarosa’s ‘Unhinged’ is fading fast: Hardcover sales dropped 40 percent

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The problem with the anti-Trump anonymous NY Times op-ed is not that an unnamed White House official is disloyal to the president. We’ve seen it before. The problem is that so many in our political class are disloyal to voters. The very people in charge of administering our democracy, don’t believe in democracy. #Tucker

A lot of people voted for Trump for that exact reason.. now they are in denial and can't admit that Trump has no loyalty to democracy either.

MSNBC full of speculation about who it is tonight. Crazytown is contagious.

Truth Below...

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5831291760001/?#sp=show-clips

You see, President Trump is doing exactly what we elected him to do.

WOW! We know who wrote the letter now!

It


Was


Q.

a 25 year old in his mom's basement with a Bernie poster and a picture of trump with the eyes cut out.

Assuming that this person is legit,,, If you were him/her, and you feel the way this is written, would you reveal yourself at this point?

I wouldn't. I'd sit tight, stay in a position to help and be of service which of course I wouldn't be able to do if I'm fired. I assume of course that Trump would fire him/her immediately if not sooner.

Now here's a take I've not heard anyone bring up.

What if, and it's a HUGE IF, the Presidents people put that out there in an effort to gin up more controversy. I mean, it's not beyond the Trump team to do stuff like that.

The Times has said they know who this is, they say they have the name and are aware he/she is who they say they are, so, my thought probably isn't accurate at all. Just a crazy idea.

That aside, given that Don McGahn, having apparently been stepped on by the President, may be the guy who wrote this. I'm not sure of course, no way to really know I guess.

Yes it would be, but once again Trump does something stupid to give it credibility. If it wasn't someone in his circle and it was just made up, why would Trump be looking for the author of the letter? You see, if you know the things written are lies, you wouldn't think anyone within the White House would have written them in the first place. I mean anyone could make these things up as you pointed out.

But if these things are true? You would be looking for who gave this information to the press. Who was spreading the dirt.

Anonymous NYT op-ed sends White House searching for leakers

Trump demands The New York Times 'turn over' anonymous source

http://theweek.com/5things/794339/trump-demands-new-york-times-turn-over-anonymous-source

At some point those who support Trump are going to have to admit what's going on. The only question left is just how bad things will have to get or what catastrophe will have to come to fruition before they do.

So, until someone is named for writing this, and admits it, I'm going with 'it's not true'.


As to your post - If, say, I were to write an anonymous essay bashing you, you'd just let it go, and not seek to found out who wrote it, when 50-75% of the people that read it believe it to be true?

If that is your idea of journalism in todays society, we have different ideas of what journalism is.

President Trump is currently using this treachery to his advantage, turning a negative into a possitive.

It serves to confirm his insistence there is a Deep State working against him. Republican establishment and Democrats both. FBI and CIA. Justice Department and Leftists.

I'm sure you fully understand the definition of the word "leak".

drip ...drip ... drip. Damn leakers. Drip... drip.... drip

Have you noticed, if someone leaks information that isn't flattering to trump or says something unflattering or does something unflattering to Trump, suddenly, that person is: (see list)

1. Sick
2. Stupid
3. Leaker
4. Disloyal
5. Liar
6. Fake
7. Pig
8. Dog
9. Ugly
10. Weak
11. pick any negative term you want, insert here

In other words, Trump never lies, he never makes mistakes, he never misleads.. He's perfect and everyone better step right in line "OR ELSE"!

J/C

So the left has bashed trump for saying there was a deep state, a force inside politics that are undermining and controlling things, cool...sounds a little paranoid I get it. then this article comes out that they are saying is true, and are infatuated with, which is saying their is someone working behind the scenes to undermine him and control things

Absolutely.

But this wasn't a 'leak'. This was some supposed person, high up in the admin. that "voluntarily' wrote a hit piece.


Why? If this person is so concerned about some issues, why don't they come out in public with it? Is their job that lucrative? If they care so much about the country, why not put a name down?

So, SO much more could be accomplished by airing it publicly, with a name. Heck, I might even believe it then.

And money? Trust me, if that was in fact true - the essay - that person would be heralded by most as a hero. And the money would flow to him or her.

And aside from the money, the citizens would know the 'truth'.

But, we have "anonymous". Pretty much the whole cabinet has denied writing it, or that any of their aides wrote it. I guess that's part of being anonymous though, isn't it?


But, you are just fine if someone anonymous writes a hit piece about you, it's taken as truth?






Just listened to Cory (Corey?) Booker in the confirmation hearings discussing releasing info marked 'confidential'.

I was surprised that he admitted, in his own words "I know I'm breaking the committee rules....." several times, but then also added, several times "There are no senate rules about releasing these confidential records......"

And further, he added "It's important for the citizens to read these confidential records........that we senators have....."

Uh? If the senators have them, why is it important for me or you to read them? They're confidential - and the people voting for or against Kav have the information.

I know I am breaking the rules............there are no rules............

And then the chairman read off the rule.







Politics: Dog and Pony show.

Turns out the classified Docs were OKed for release last night and Booker knew it.

Thanks for that.

Mea culpa.

You seem to continue to skirt some of the issues here. How can something be a "leak" that isn't true? How can Trump Tweet out "TREASON?", if nothing considered confidential wasn't released? Those seem to be two things you are unwilling to address.

And as for the rest of your questions? No matter what you say, Trump has done and said some very strange things. Mocking a disabled person for starters. I could give you dozens of examples but this isn't the thread for that. lol

From my POV, I'm hoping the sane people in this administration stay there. I'm glad they're letting us know what's actually going on, but I want all the sane people that are there, to remain there. I want them to do everything in their power to keep this lunatic in check. A person can't do that if they out themselves.