6357

TRUMP: Elijah Cummings [a Democratic representative from Maryland] was in my office and he said, “You will go down as one of the great presidents in the history of our country.”

HABERMAN: Really.

TRUMP: And then he went out and I watched him on television yesterday and I said, “Was that the same man?”

[Laughter.]

TRUMP: But I said, and I liked him, but I said that was really nice. He said, in a group of people, “You will go down as one of the great presidents in the history of our country.” And then I watched him on television and I said, “Is that the same man that said that to me?”

6358

Trump will clearly make an ass out of himself, but Xi is a wannabe tough guy himself. Ideally it’ll be a draw rather than a complete shitshow. Although I’m not holding my breath.

6359

I expect Trump to tell Xi “I will declare an ADZ over your ADZ in the South China Sea. Mine will be so much bigger, it’ll make yours look tiny”.

6360

You forgot, “He makes the best chicken.”

6361

Now I’m worried he’s going to ask Xi why it’s called duck sauce if it doesn’t have any duck in it.

6362

TRUMP: Elijah Cummings was in my office and he said, “You will go down as one of the great presidents in the history of our country.”

MAGGIE HABERMAN: Really.

TRUMP: And then he went out and I watched him on television yesterday and I said, “Was that the same man?”

…

He explained in a statement to The Fix: “During my meeting with the president and on several occasions since then, I have said repeatedly that he could be a great president if … if … he takes steps to truly represent all Americans rather than continuing on the divisive and harmful path he is currently on.”

This is Trump’s fabulism in action. He hears a comment like that, lops off the all-important “if” part, and takes it as a compliment. And then he takes that perceived compliment and amplifies it by a factor of about four; “great president” becomes “one of the great presidents in the history of the country.”

The question, as with all of Trump’s falsehoods, is whether it’s subconscious or deliberate — the “Stupid or Liar” theory. Either he doesn’t comprehend what Cummings was saying to him — which is a big problem in a president — or he chooses to completely misrepresent it — which is a big problem in a president.

6363

“During my meeting with the President and on several occasions since then, I have said repeatedly that he could be a great president if … IF … he takes steps to truly represent ALL Americans rather than continuing on the divisive and harmful path he is currently on,” Cummings told CNN Thursday in a statement.

6364

Given how prevalent this sort of thing is with Trump, and how unconcerned he is when people point out these errors, it’s likely neither.

It’s probably confabulation. It didn’t happen that way, and Trump didn’t mishear him when he said it … but that’s how Trump remembers it now, and he doesn’t think he’s lying when he tells his version of it.

This is of course a very serious condition for a POTUS to have. Stupid people can be taught and ordinary liars will ultimately admit to it when presented with proof of their falsehoods. But confabulators are serenely sure it happened that way. And if someone tells them different, the confabulator will assume they’re the liar.

6365
6366
6367

It must be nice, this world he lives in.

6368

The man has lived his life failing upwards. Being rich is indeed a nice world to live in.

6369

Oh, man. This is too good.

6370

So the government is demanding personal records of Twitter users who are anti Trump?

That’s pretty terrifying.

6371

RoguePOTUSStaff probably.

6372

ALT_uscis was the target. So immigration.

6373

The Times also reported that “Bannon’s Svengali-style reputation has chafed on a president who sees himself as the West Wing’s only leading man,” and that “several associates said the president had quietly expressed annoyance over the credit Mr. Bannon had received for setting the agenda—and Mr. Trump was not pleased by the ‘President Bannon’ puppet-master theme promoted by magazines, late-night talk shows and Twitter.”

A Republican source close to Trump told The Daily Beast confirmed this level of insecurity over Bannon’s reputation coming from the president, and mentioned that the president was “irked” after catching a glimpse of a recent cold-open on Saturday Night Live.

Bannon was depicted as a Grim Reaper character who manipulates Alec Baldwin’s President Trump into sowing global chaos and diplomatic breakdown. At the end of the scene, “Bannon” tells Trump to give him his Oval Office desk back. Baldwin’s Trump calls the Reaper “Mr. President,” and then proceeds to go sit at his own much smaller, shorter desk, where the president plays with a kid’s toy instead of governing.

“Did you see this crap?” Trump asked the confidante, referring to the SNL sketch.

I haven’t been watching the SNL skits myself (outside of youtube clips here and there) but they really need to keep doing what they’re doing. I think it’s working.

6374

I think I found a pic of it:

6375

Bannon should take it in stride…Martin Bormann took a lot of crap from other Hitler aids, and look how he turned out…

6376

This… this can’t be real. It’s too absurd to be real.

Fucking normal people better get off their asses and vote in 2018.