Michael Scherer

So I wouldn't put her in that same top tier, although she is sort of trying to win her way back into the president's good grace.

I mean... I want to note the way you do that, right, which is by...

You know, the president's fundamental characteristic is that he's transactional in everything he does, in every interaction he has, in all the macro ways he lives his life.

He's always trading to get some benefit for himself.

And the way that manifests in the White House is that it functions more like a royal court would.

You have the courtiers who come to the parties and try and please the king in various ways.

And the president is constantly asking to be pleased.

And so that is, you know, from the cabinet level, you know, more so than the White House staff, because the White House staff works for Susie.

It's a different structure.

But the cabinet level, a lot of these people...

are constantly trying to figure out every day how to please the king and what they can do to please him.

And part of that is performing, you know, owning the liberals in a TV interview or a hearing or announcing some new initiative for him.

Part of that is delivering these policy things.

Part of that is doing the things...

that Trump knows the Department of Justice would never have done in the first term because they're way outside the bounds of what's normal, or the director of national intelligence would do in the first term.

And that's the system he's built up.

Those long cabinet meetings that you described...

are like the performative part of the whole structure.

You know, like that's the public version of it, but that's happening all the time.

People are, cabinet members are constantly just hanging out at the White House so they can be around the guy, just so they can get FaceTime, because if he's thinking of you, that's good for you.