Donald Trump is intentionally trying to soften his tone.
Or is it him?
I thought about this a lot when I interviewed President Trump twice this year, including two weeks before the election. He was focused and substantive, trying to appeal to a more independent audience, and took some campaign-style photos, but they were relatively restrained by pro-Trump standards.
Now that he is the de facto president, I saw a similar Mr. Trump on display in an interview on “Meet the Press.” The follow-up from Kristen Welker must have irritated him. Because he told her that she had asked an “uncomfortable” question.
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During the campaign, these episodes were overshadowed by Trump's rock'n'roll rallies, where he rambled on about the genitals of the great Hannibal Lecter and Arnold Palmer. But his remarks on NBC that he “also wants to represent people who didn't vote for me” are a far cry from his 2017 “American carnage” inaugural address.
Still, the president-elect has also mastered the art of saying things that can be interpreted two ways and sending less-encrypted messages.
of Washington Post Editorial BoardAlthough not a big fan, Trump said he was “trying to strike a conciliatory tone” to Welker, backed up by substance.
President-elect Trump appears to be making a concerted and deliberate effort to soften his tone and rhetoric. (Screenshot/NBC)
President Trump has vowed not to replace Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and wants to work with Democrats to protect Dreamers. President Trump said, “We have no intention of restricting domestic access to abortion pills, and the United States will 'absolutely' remain in NATO as long as other members spend what they have committed to defense.''
And why should he seem more reasonable? He has a job that he believes was unfairly taken from him. He can't run again. He knows his first term was badly handled by leftist media organizations. If he can make his second term more successful – after fielding some powerful aides in the last general election – he could change the verdict of history.
And that brings us to the issue of retaliation. He said the same line he said to me on NBC: The greatest reward is success. On “Meet the Press,” he even walked back his campaign promise to appoint a special counsel to go after Joe Biden.
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When Mr. Welker asked whether he would order the Justice Department to investigate Mr. Biden and his administration, which he sees as persecuting him, Mr. Trump offered an answer he probably would not have proposed in his first term. Ta.
No, he said, it's up to the attorney general and the FBI director, and it's definitely going to be Pam Bondi and probably Kash Patel. Does he tell them to do that? no.
This is called distancing.
Now, some might argue, by announcing it on national television, he is effectively suggesting he do it. But I'm sure they knew his opinion anyway.
President Trump's one misstep on NBC drew members of the House Jan. 6 committee into sharp criticism. Liz Cheney said, “He did something that is unforgivable.'' [Bennie] Trump told host Kristen Welker that Thompson and the non-select committee members were political thugs and creeps, claiming without evidence that they had “deleted and destroyed” their testimony. , said, “Honestly, they should go to jail.”
So this is a gift to his critics, allowing most journalists to go along with him in wanting to keep lawmakers in jail. Incidentally, their investigations and hearings are protected by the Speech and Debate Clause, which grants immunity to lawmakers.
This gentle “Trump 2.0” came up during a Meet the Press interview with NBC's Kristen Welker. (Screenshot/NBC)
Trump's senior adviser Jason Miller told CNN that Bondi and Patel were taken “out of context,” adding that “all the people we've put in key leadership positions. … We want the law to be applied equally.” .
Similarly, President Trump has largely avoided attacks on individual journalists after saying he would reach out to hostile news organizations. But he made an exception, mocking Maggie Haberman of the New York Times when she co-authored several articles he didn't like.
So will we see a Trump 2.0, or a Trump 1.0 with lots of fancy packaging?
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But so far, I still believe we will see a more disciplined, restrained and moderate Trump. He was calling for shaking things up, so there will be a lot of conflict in the future. What's interesting is that while Biden's momentum has waned and he has refused to speak to the press since the pardon debacle, he is already effectively running the country.
