‘No adult supervision’: Concern grows as Trump increasingly appears out of touch
Concerns are mounting over President Donald Trump’s ability, willingness, or even interest in engaging with the most pressing issues facing the country, as he increasingly—and casually—admits to being unaware of critical matters. His repeated declarations of ignorance, often delivered without hesitation or concern, have deepened alarm among critics who warn of a dangerous void in informed leadership in the Oval Office.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked President Trump, “Have you been briefed about the soldiers in Lithuania? Who are missing?”
The Commander-in-Chief, appearing both uninformed and unconcerned, simply replied, “No I haven’t.” And moved on to take a question from another reporter.
The four soldiers went missing on Tuesday during a training mission in Lithuania, near the border of Belarus, a staunch ally of Russia. On Wednesday, as Axios reported, their Hercules armored vehicle was found submerged. Hours before Trump was asked, NATO and numerous media outlets had reported the soldiers were dead, only to walk that back later. They currently remain missing.
But President Trump said he was unaware of any of this.
“Is Trump just totally out of the loop?” asked journalist Matthew Yglesias. “Why wasn’t he briefed on the soldiers in Lithuania?”
READ MORE: Passwords, Contact Info for Top Trump NatSec Officials ‘Publicly’ Available: Report
Declaring President Trump “clueless” on “basic intel,” The New Republic on Thursday morning noted that “the armymen were known to be missing as early as Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., the Lithuanian military said, so why Trump was still unaware of the situation more than 24 hours later is unclear.”
Also Wednesday afternoon, President Trump was asked about his Secretary of Defense’s involvement in Signalgate. Pete Hegseth has been identified as the one who shared classified information in an insecure channel—seen as the greatest violation within the entire scandal. But the President appeared unaware of his Defense Secretary’s role in the massive nation security breach when asked by a reporter.
“Hegseth is doing a great job. He had nothing to do this. Hegseth? How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do with it. Look, it’s all a witch hunt,” Trump told the reporter. He then went on to try to blame Signal, saying he thought it could be “defective.”
Attorney and former Biden White House senior presidential speechwriter Dan Cluchey, responded to the video of Trump’s remarks on Hegseth and Signal.
“This is stronger evidence of cognitive decline than anything Joe Biden has ever said in his life, ever,” he wrote, and warned: “Something tells me the press will breeze right past it.”
READ MORE: ‘Liar’ Hegseth Faces ‘Immediate’ Resignation Demand From Growing List of Democrats
Journalist James Surowiecki observed, Trump is “so checked out of his job that he doesn’t even know Hegseth needlessly disclosed the weapons packages and times of the attack on the Houthis.”
On Monday, Trump had told reporters when asked about the Signal scandal, “I don’t know anything about it.” Appearing as if he had not been briefed, he then asked a reporter for more information about it.
“Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach,” the Associated Press reported.
The Signal texts that The Atlantic had published also reveal the President’s apparent lack of awareness, on numerous fronts.
On Wednesday, asked by a reporter if he believed the information shared in the Signal chat was not classified, the Commander-in-Chief told reporters, “That’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know. I’m not sure, you have to ask the various people involved.”
The White House has repeatedly insisted it was not classified, but countless experts, including lawmakers, say it was classified.
Vice President J.D. Vance in the texts says, “I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this [military strike] is with his message on Europe right now.”
The Washington Post, citing a person with knowledge of Vance’s intentions, reported on Wednesday that “Vance wanted to ensure that Trump had been given all the facts about the potential attack, including that European nations stood to benefit more from it than the U.S.” That would suggest the Commander-in-Chief was not aware of “all the facts.”
Also of concern is that the 18 participants in the Signal chat appeared to be unsure of the President’s directive.
Calling him “President Bystander,” MSNBC’s Steve Benen writes, “Trump appears out of the loop in his own White House.”
Pointing to the Signal texts, Benen says one text “chain featured the White House’s Stephen Miller adding, in apparent reference to the attack plan, ‘As I heard it, the president was clear: green light.'”
“The problems should be obvious,” Benen added. “Vance was uncertain about Trump’s knowledge of the relevant details, and one of the president’s right-hand loyalists added an ‘as I heard it’ qualifier to the commander in chief’s directive about a deadly military operation abroad.”
The Commander-in-Chief appears to have been uninvolved in important portions of the planning of the military strike. Based on the Signal texts, it appears likely that he was absent from key portions of the decision making process.
Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist, offered this observation.
“Trump didn’t know about the Signal group chat or that a reporter was included. Trump says he didn’t sign the authorization to use the Enemy Alien Act to deport people without due process. His signature was on the document. Trump didn’t know that US service members went missing during a training exercise in Lithuania,” he noted. “What kind of leader knows nothing about what his administration is doing, what he himself is doing, and what is happening with the military he is in charge of?”
Attorney, Republican, and former U.S. Representative Barbara Comstock on Wednesday shared her concerns via social media.
“There is no adult supervision at the White House. Grandpa does not know what is going on except on the Golf Channel or if someone takes a bad picture of him. Where’s Melania? Does he have a COS or caretaker?”