Donald Trump is handicapping his own "support system" because of an outdated grudge, according to a conservative analyst.
Former Republican Tom Nichols appeared on MSNBC for an extended interview over the weekend, and early in the appearance decoded what he called the president's "verbal tic."
After that, Nichols explained how he thinks Trump is "shooting himself in the foot."
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The host asked Nichols about a report on Trump's administration "taking a hatchet" to the National Security Council, and noted that the NSC was tied to his first impeachment.
"Is he still holding a grudge?" host Alex Witt asked.
Noting that "nobody carries a grudge like Donald Trump," Nichols went on to say Trump carries a grudge "institutionally."
"He is mad about being impeached and being defeated... and this is really shooting himself in the foot," the expert said.
Nichols added, "He needs the NSC."
"The problem is that people like the president and the people around him don't like organizations like the NSC, because they're full of experts. They're full of people who work the problem. And that doesn't go very well when he says, 'I want to do x, y, and z,' and they say, 'Well, there, you know, you can do whatever you want, Mr. President, but there are problems with that. Here are some costs. Here are some things that you have to worry about," Nichols said. "This president doesn't want to hear any of that stuff. And the NSC exists to tell him stuff like that. That's what it's there for. It's the president's kind of personal foreign policy, interagency support staff and think tank all rolled into one supposedly or normally headed by a national security advisor who gives him the best advice, handles all these contending institutions and opinions."
Nichols further said, "None of that is happening because what the president really wants is just tell me that the things I want to do are good, and don't give me any guff about any problems or costs."
