Donald Trump could be "out of the loop," according to a new Washington Post analysis.
Aaron Blake, senior political reporter for WaPo, wrote on Saturday that the president appears to be taking a backseat in his own presidency despite criticizing his predecessor for being asleep at the wheel.
According to Blake, Trump has himself "suggested he’s not involved in major decisions."
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"One of the major themes of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was the idea that Joe Biden had no idea what was happening around him," Blake wrote. "But less than four months after taking over from Biden, it’s Trump who, in his own telling, is often unaware of major events surrounding him and directly involving his administration."
In addition to "pleading ignorance" on some issues, Blake highlights how Trump has also distanced himself from certain administration moves.
"At other times, Trump has distanced himself or appeared distant from his administration’s major and consequential decisions, as if he had little or nothing to do with them," Blake wrote, before citing some examples. "Most recently, Trump on Thursday suggested he had played virtually no role in the selection of his new pick for surgeon general, Casey Means."
“I don’t know her,” Trump said in announcing that appointment.
After listing numerous examples of Trump distancing himself from his own team's decision-making, including the controversial Signal chat featuring Pete Hegseth, Blake said, "To be clear, this and several other matters mentioned above have been some of the most significant of Trump’s second term. And he has suggested he wasn’t really involved in or across the situations."
"There’s certainly a question about how much Trump actually is out of the loop and how much he’s just saying that. Trump’s record for dishonesty is nearly without compare. When it comes to some of the more sensitive issues, he could benefit from distance from these decisions," the reporter wrote Saturday. "But this seemingly hands-off approach also reared its head in his first term, particularly when it came to the administration’s covid response."
In his conclusion, Blake called back Trump's comments about Biden.
"And it’s certainly a notable posture from the man who said his predecessor was hopelessly disengaged and repeatedly talked about how bad it was to have people who aren’t the president call the shots," Blake added.
