Donald Trump’s closest allies are suddenly aligning against him
Donald Trump likes to surround himself with corrupt people because he thinks he can use their dirty secrets to control them, and bumbling people because he thinks he can manipulate them. The trouble is that these aren’t the kind of people who tend to remain loyal once push comes to shove. Thus far no one has been willing to go to prison for him in his criminal scandals. Now, suddenly, some of his closest allies are lining up against him.
Nevermind that Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, and even Michael Flynn have already cut plea deals against Donald Trump. Those were all just marriages of convenience to begin with. Trump’s true political soulmates have been people like Roger Stone and Jeff Sessions. Except, wait a minute, Stone just came out swinging against him, and Sessions appears to be trying to blackmail him. Some friends, eh? But did anyone really expect self-interested thugs like Sessions and Stone to willingly take a fall for Trump? Maybe Trump did. We certainly didn’t. It gets worse.
We still don’t know if Michael Cohen, who has long supposedly been like a son to Donald Trump, will flip on him. Based on the remarks made by Stone and others, it sounds like Trump has always treated Cohen to the same kind of psychological abuse and disloyalty that he’s shown his actual sons. Even as we wait to see if Cohen flips, Trump’s longtime legal adviser Jay Goldberg is on television revealing his confidential conversations with Trump about Cohen. It appears Goldberg is selling out his relationship with Trump simply to score fifteen minutes of relevance on cable news.
As push comes to shove, thus far none of Donald Trump’s own people are choosing him over what they think is best for themselves. Does anyone really think the likes of Hope Hicks, Corey Lewandowski, Reince Priebus, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon and John Kelly are going to be willing to go to prison for him? If they’re informed that they’re about to be criminally charged, most of them will sell out Trump immediately. Trump’s own kids may even do the same.
