During President Donald Trump’s second term, some of his critics have argued that his behavior seems to be getting increasingly erratic and unhinged. Sure, he was always prone to going off on tangents and saying unusual or offensive things, but somehow, it all feels more extreme this time around. And it seems that those who work with him might feel the same way.
A new report alleges that Trump’s behavior has created a rather “toxic” workplace at the White House.
He is reportedly getting more difficult to work with.
We’ve all seen how he has treated reporters who ask him questions he doesn’t like (and how he talks about his critics on social media). He’s been lashing out a lot lately, and it sounds like it’s been affecting staffers as well.
Insiders allege that Trump has gotten noticeably “meaner” when interacting with people who work for him, RadarOnline reported. Critics have long suspected that Trump’s apparent outbursts show that the pressure and criticism he’s faced during his second term is impacting him more than he’d like to admit. When facing the public, he boasts that he’s “the greatest” president who is responsible for making the United States “hot” again.
But in private, he might not be feeling so great about how things are going (which could explain his strange Truth Social posting sprees). Sources claim that Trump has a temper and has lashed out at his closest aides. They described the overall work environment as “toxic” and “unpleasant.”
His estranged niece previously psychoanalyzed his erratic behavior.
Mary Trump was reacting to how the president treats female reporters when she said he’s clearly “rattled.” Of course, a lot of people think this behavior comes across as sexist, and Mary also noted that he’s “openly misogynistic.” But she also believes there’s more to it than that.
“I think it’s also a sign that he’s a little rattled,” she said previously, also arguing that he seems “increasingly comfortable lodging such attacks.”
Obviously, if he’s lashing out at staffers in the same way, that would be a lot to deal with. But the issues could also be deeper than his alleged temper.
According to other reports, Trump’s relationship with Natalie Harp might be making things worse for other staffers.
Author Michael Wolff has suggested that Harp has access to an employee perk that no other staffers have access to, per The Daily Beast. Apparently, she’s allowed to enjoy the buffet at Trump’s Palm Beach golf club.
Harp’s relationship with Trump has come under scrutiny because the two seem unusually close. Their relationship has weirded some people out, and there’s reason to think it might bother staffers as well.
Former White House Deputy Secretary Sarah Matthews described the relationship as obsessive and said she thinks there are staffers who feel the same way, per Newsweek.
“I look at the relationship between the two, and I just think there’s something weird going on in the sense of her extreme devotion, borderline obsession with the president,” she said. “And I think that a lot of aides who are working in Trump 2.0 feel the same.”
Matthews also accused Harp of enabling Trump and feeding him content that makes him feel good about himself, which is probably why he likes her so much. “She is the one that’s feeding him some of these nasty things that he has posted,” Matthews claimed. “So, she’s feeding him AI slop in addition to lavishing him with praise and feeding him positive tweets and news articles to boost his ego.”
Yikes. If the rumors are true, it’s not hard to understand why this kind of dynamic might make an already toxic workplace seem even more unpleasant to other staffers.
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