President Donald Trump is being exploited by scheming aides who capitalize on the fact that he doesn't absorb essential information, his biographer said.
Michael Wolff — who spent nine months embedded in the White House in 2017 — told the Daily Beast he quickly discovered that the president doesn't have any interest in learning what he needs to know. Instead, he relies on those around him to be up to speed.
'He doesn't read," White House staffers told the author.
It's “the most information-intensive job in the world,” Wolff said, but “you can’t give him things to read, not even a paragraph.”
Wolff said that, from his first conversation with Trump, he noticed the president talking "inordinately long" to cover up his lack of detailed knowledge.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon reportedly described Trump as being "in a lifelong war against information."
Wolff claimed that the dynamic had led to those "smart in managing Trump" exploiting his lack of focus by pushing agendas in areas he doesn't pay attention to.
Trump's morning routine itself reveals his information consumption style. According to Wolff, he typically begins by having aides "rehash all of the television shows—which he has seen—and then analyze why whatever he has seen is, in fact, good for him." He doesn't start working in the Oval Office until around 11 a.m., he said.
Wolff described Trump's inner circle as a "world of would-be teachers' pets" who are constantly looking to take advantage of his disinterest. He noted that for Trump, "Bad news must become good news... and bad news that cannot become good news, then necessarily becomes a conspiracy against him."
Regarding New York's new mayor Zohran Mamdani, Wolff predicted an interesting dynamic: "I think Mamdani is in a perfect position to make Donald Trump his foil, rather than the other way around."
