Donald Trump makes a deliberate effort to soften his tone.
Or is he?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot after interviewing Trump twice this year, including two weeks earlier the election. He was focused and substantive, trying to reach a more independent audience, and while he made some campaign-style shots, he was relatively restrained by Trumpian norms.
Now that he is the de facto president, I saw a similar Trump on display in the “Meet the Press” interview. Kristen Welker’s follow-ups must have irritated him because he told her she asked “nasty” questions.
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During the campaign, such episodes were overshadowed by Trump’s rock ‘n’ roll rallies, where he rambled on about the great Hannibal Lecter or Arnold Palmer’s genitals. But his statement on NBC that he also wants to represent those who didn’t vote for him is a far cry from his 2017 inaugural address on “American carnage.”
And yet the president-elect has also mastered the art of saying things that can be interpreted in two ways, or sending not-so-coded messages.
The Washington Post Editorial Boardnot a big fan, says Trump “tried to sound a conciliatory tone” with Welker, backed by substance.
President-elect Trump appears to be making a concerted, deliberate effort to soften his tone and rhetoric. (Screenshot/NBC)
Trump said he would not oust Fed chief Jerome Powell and would work with Democrats to protect Dreamers. Trump said he “would not limit the national availability of abortion drugs, and that the United States will ‘absolutely’ remain in NATO as long as other member states spend what they have pledged on defense.”
And why wouldn’t he seem more reasonable? He was given the job that he believes was unfairly taken from him. He can’t run anymore. He knows his first term was destroyed by the left-wing media establishment. If he can have a more successful second term – after bringing in some top aides in the last round – he could change the verdict of history.
And that brings us to the issue of retaliation. He said on NBC that success is the best reward, the same phrase he used with me. On “Meet the Press,” he even retracted a campaign statement that he would appoint a special prosecutor to pursue Joe Biden.
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When Welker asked whether he would direct the Justice Department, which he claims prosecuted him, to investigate Biden and his administration, Trump gave an answer that I doubt he would have done in the first term.
No, he said, that would be up to his attorney general and FBI director, which would certainly be Pam Bondi and probably Kash Patel. Would he tell them to do it? No.
It’s called distancing.
Now you could argue that he was basically suggesting that they do it by announcing it on national television. But I’m sure they knew his views anyway.
Trump’s only misstep on NBC was lashing out at members of the House January 6 Committee. He said Liz Cheney “did something that is inexcusable, along with (Bennie) Thompson and people on the Un-Select Committee of political criminals and, you know, creeps,” Trump told moderator Kristen Welker, without evidence that she ” the “testimony. “Honestly, they should go to jail.”
So that was a gift to his critics, allowing most journalists to join him in leading the charge and wanting lawmakers behind bars. Their investigations and hearings are otherwise protected by the Speech and Debate Clause, which gives members immunity.
This milder “Trump 2.0” reared its head during a Meet the Press interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. (Screenshot/NBC)
Trump’s senior adviser Jason Miller told CNN that his boss’s words were “taken out of context,” that he “wants whoever he puts in key positions of leadership … to apply the law to everyone equally,” mentioning Bondi and Patel. .
In a similar vein, Trump has largely avoided attacks on individual journalists, having said he would even reach out to hostile media outlets. But he made an exception and mocked Maggie Haberman of the New York Times when she co-authored some stories he didn’t like.
So will we get Trump 2.0, or Trump 1.0 with lots of fancy packaging?
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Veteran Trump watchers know he can veer off the high road when he gets angry, that it’s not all about mass deportations, curbing inflation and drilling, baby, drilling.
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But I still believe we are seeing a more disciplined, restrained and moderate Trump so far. He campaigned to shake things up, so there are plenty of clashes to unfold. What’s fascinating is that he’s already essentially running the country, while Biden has faded away and has refused to talk to the press since the pardon fiasco.
