{"id":56330,"date":"2018-01-09T05:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T05:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=56330"},"modified":"2018-01-09T05:38:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T05:38:52","slug":"the-white-house-struggles-to-silence-talk-of-trumps-mental-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/the-white-house-struggles-to-silence-talk-of-trumps-mental-fitness.html","title":{"rendered":"The White House struggles to silence talk of Trump’s mental fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House struggles to silence talk of Trump’s mental fitness<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The White House is struggling to contain the national discussion about President Trump\u2019s mental acuity and fitness for the job, which has overshadowed the administration\u2019s agenda for the past week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump publicly waded into the debate spawned by a new book, \u201cFire and Fury\u201d \u2014 Michael Wolff\u2019s inside account of the presidency \u2014 over the weekend by claiming on Twitter that he is \u201clike, really smart\u201d and \u201ca very stable genius.\u201d In doing so, the president underscored his administration\u2019s response strategy \u2014 by being forceful and combative \u2014 while also undermining it by gleefully entering a debate his aides have tried to avoid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump privately resents the now-regular chatter on cable television news shows about his mental health and views the issue as \u201can invented fact\u201d and \u201ca joke,\u201d much like the Russia probe, according to one person who recently discussed it with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doubts about Trump\u2019s state of mind have been whispered about in Washington\u2019s corridors of power since before he was elected and have occasionally broken into the open, such as when Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said last August that Trump lacked \u201cthe stability\u201d and \u201csome of the competence\u201d to be successful as president.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Wolff\u2019s book has thrust the topic to the forefront of public debate, prompting the White House to confront the issue directly.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, Trump\u2019s advisers have adopted a posture of umbrage and indignation. Rather than dignifying questions about whether their 71-year-old boss is fit to be president, they attack the inquisitors for having the gall to ask.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an emailed statement Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed what she called \u201cridiculous reports from detractors\u201d and described an \u201coutpouring of support from a totally indignant staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe White House perspective is outrage and disgust that people who do not know this President or understand the true depth of his intellectual capabilities would be so filled with hate they would resort to something so far outside the realm of reality or decency,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked Monday by reporters whether Trump\u2019s physical exam, scheduled for Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, would include a psychiatric component, deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley barely engaged the question. He replied, simply, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller charged that there were partisan motivations behind the talk of Trump\u2019s fitness. \u201cThe political left wants this to become a debate about made-up attacks against the president rather than the president\u2019s successes and the success of the country,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a pretty pathetic move.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

White House officials are trying to present Trump as hard at work doing his job. A long-planned working retreat at Camp David over the weekend became a showcase for the commander in chief.<\/span><\/p>\n

The traveling pool of reporters was invited to the presidential getaway in Maryland, where Trump parried their questions Saturday while Vice President Pence, Cabinet members and Republican congressional leaders flanked him with approving nods and applause.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust from a visual standpoint, it shows a very united front,\u201d one White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share an internal assessment, said of the Camp David news conference. \u201cEveryone\u2019s on the same page. There are no fractures. From an optics standpoint, it works very well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist who works for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Trump can best help extinguish emerging doubts by advancing his policy agenda, including proposals for new spending on infrastructure projects. \u201cThis needs to move beyond talking heads and be met with action and discipline,\u201d Reed said.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also fired back against critics on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week\u201d on Sunday, emphasizing the president\u2019s accomplishments rather than his state of mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as everyone wants to talk about stability, was he unstable when he passed the tax reform?\u201d she asked. \u201cWas he unstable when we finally hit back at Syria and said no more chemical weapons? Was he unstable when we finally put North Korea on notice? Was he unstable when he said, \u2018Wait, we need to look at Iran because this is getting to be a dangerous situation\u2019? Was he unstable with the jobs or the economy or the stock market?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Monday, as Trump delivered a speech on agriculture policy in Nashville, neither CNN nor MSNBC carried his full remarks live. Instead, anchors Jake Tapper and Nicolle Wallace, respectively, interviewed journalists and pundits about Wolff\u2019s book and Trump\u2019s reaction to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Trump allies voiced frustration that the White House does not appear to have implemented a full-scale crisis communications plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you raise an issue like the mental acuity of the president, there is no organized effort to push back,\u201d said one ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly. \u201cHow do you disprove a fallacy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After several days of blanket coverage of Wolff\u2019s book, the Republican National Committee sent some talking points to Trump allies Friday evening. The memo, titled \u201cPundit Prep,\u201d urged Trump\u2019s defenders to first focus on \u201cjobs, jobs, jobs,\u201d and offered tips on discrediting Wolff and his tome. The document did not address how to answer questions about Trump\u2019s fitness for office.<\/span><\/p>\n

White House officials said organizing a public response has been relatively easy, as administration aides and allies have been naturally frustrated and eager to push back. A number of Cabinet members and other people who have worked closely with Trump over the years have come forward with testimonies of the president\u2019s mental capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is absolutely no different than the day he got elected, and he has used this unconventional but very effective manner of managing for the 30 years that I\u2019ve known him in business, finance, media and now governing,\u201d Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Trump\u2019s longtime friend and inauguration chairman, said in an interview Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not mental instability,\u201d Barrack added. \u201cIt\u2019s management by controlled and orchestrated chaos.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday on Hugh Hewitt\u2019s radio show that his boss is \u201cfocused, he\u2019s determined, he\u2019s a business guy. He asks tough questions, and expects solid answers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Hewitt asked if Trump was \u201creally smart,\u201d as the president claimed in his tweet, Perdue replied: \u201cI think he is really smart. He\u2019s instinctive. He has a unique, inherent gift of just being able to figure stuff out. It\u2019s like street smarts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, appearing Sunday on CBS\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d talked about Trump\u2019s engagement during the near-daily intelligence briefings that Pompeo helps deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe engage in complex conversation about some of the most weighty matters facing the world,\u201d Pompeo said, adding: \u201cHe asks really hard questions. He delivers policy outcomes based on the information that we provide him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A more combative defense came from Stephen Miller, Trump\u2019s senior policy adviser, who tangled with Tapper on Sunday on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d Miller trashed Wolff as \u201ca garbage author of a garbage book.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the other tragedies of this grotesque work of fiction is its portrayal of the president,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe reality is, is the president is a political genius.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Miller repeated himself again and again, he and Tapper began talking over each other, and the interview grew so contentious that the CNN host eventually cut it \u2014 and Miller \u2014 off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Afterward, Miller was delighted. He told others he was proud of his performance and thought the exchange went well. So did the president, who chimed in with Twitter praise, saying his policy adviser had \u201cdestroyed\u201d the \u201cFake News\u201d Tapper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/the-white-house-struggles-to-silence-talk-of-trumps-mental-fitness\/2018\/01\/08\/2a7d4092-f493-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html?utm_term=.0dc0c85c23f1<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t