Trump Goes Rogue in NYT Interview, Frustrating White House Officials

When I posted about Trump’s interview with the New York Times earlier Friday, I said this was unfiltered Trump, and there were apparently no aides, no John Kelly, no one to pull back on the reins.

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As a result, Trump blabbered things he’d heard on Fox News. Namely, that “collusion” wasn’t a crime.

Well, I was right. Trump sat for this interview on the fly, with no preparation and no one to intercede and say, “What he meant to say was…”

According to a new report, White House officials finding out about the interview, after the fact, were apparently caught flat footed and left frustrated.

The Post said that Times reporter Michael Schmidt gained access to the president at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday after club member Christopher Ruddy introduced the president and the reporter. No aides were present during the on-the-record session.

The newspaper quoted one official who was not aware of the interview, which was posted on Thursday evening, as asking, “What interview? Today?”

Another official was reportedly irked the sit-down took place and referred to it as “embarrassing.”

Trump, according to the report, was enthusiastic about the interview, thrilled that it was getting widely covered on TV Friday.

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He was enthusiastic. His staff were reaching for the Tylenol.

In the interview, besides saying that collusion wasn’t a crime, he also covered his relationship with the media, and his thoughts on special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump told The Times he had the “absolute right” to do whatever he wanted in regards to the Department of Justice and that he believed Mueller would be fair to him in the probe.

Then alert your yapping ankle-biters.

Hope Hicks reportedly checked on the interview, but did not interfere, as the word circulated that Trump was doing an interview with no one to corral what he was saying.

And the beauty part is, he has no idea why everyone isn’t totally stoked on him, today.

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