Donald Trump has refused to come to terms with private life and insists on continuing to behave like an imperious president in his “Barbie Dream House” at Mar-a-Lago, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
And that’s triggering major political stumbles and increasing his risk of criminal liability, the newspaper warned.
Trump has “transplanted the chaos and norm-flouting” of his presidency into his current life, where he’s far more vulnerable to political missteps — and indictments, the Post noted.
The former president who “worked steadily to dismantle the government guardrails” is now “almost entirely without restraint” — to his detriment, the Post concluded after interviewing 23 sources.
Trump is no longer untouchable, as he seemed to be in the White House. He’s now missing a critical coterie of “handlers” he had in the Oval Office who might have protected him from some controversies, like his disastrous Mar-a-Lago dinner with antisemitic rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
“He needs someone there to say, ‘Here’s a really bad idea, and this is why.’ I don’t think he has that kind of crowd around him right now. Nor does the president want anybody like that,” David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser, now critic, told the newspaper.
Trump is currently served by just a couple of “sycophants,” according to the Post. One aide, Molly Michael, who was Trump’s assistant in the White House, reportedly phones around to ask his allies to call Trump to “boost his spirits with positive affirmations,” the paper reported.
A longtime Trump confidant compared the former president’s Mar-a-Lago existence to a “sad,” isolated life in a “Barbie Dream House.”
His post-presidential behavior, at a time when he no longer has any control over the Justice Department, may be most likely to lead to a criminal indictment — for mishandling classified documents and obstructing federal investigators’ search for the records, the Post suggested.
Trump had a difficult transition to Mar-a-Lago, according to the Post. He was reportedly stunned by how much his Secret Service detail and motorcade had shrunk — along with his living space.
He was reportedly annoyed that his statements to the press weren’t getting much attention, advisers told the Post. In early 2021, Trump reportedly asked advisers if he could summon a press pool like the one at the White House for a Mar-a-Lago event.
“We had to explain to him that he didn’t have a group standing around waiting for him anymore,” a former aide told the Post. “The networks don’t carry his rallies. He doesn’t get interviews anymore. He can’t stand under the wing of Air Force One and gaggle [with reporters] for an hour.”
Now he has to rely on fawning members of his clubs at Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, N.J., where he spends most of his time. They applaud him when he emerges to dine in the restaurants — and when he leaves.
