The New York Times published an anonymously written op-ed from a senior Trump administration official on Wednesday who admits to being part of “the resistance” trying to thwart the president’s Make America Great Again agenda.
The official, whom the Times does not identify, says that Trump “does not fully grasp” the fact that “many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”
The official claims to be part of “the resistance,” but insists that it’s not the “popular” left-wing resistance.
“Many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office,” the official writes.
The official claims that the root of Trump’s problem is his “amorality,” writing that “anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.”
“In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the ‘enemy of the people,’ President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic,” the official continues.
The official claims multiple departments and agencies are working to insulate themselves from Trump’s agenda and desires.
The official says that the Trump administration is a “two-track presidency,” with many of the officials doing the opposite of what Trump wants to do.
“This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state,” the official writes. “It’s the work of the steady state.”
“Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president,” the official continued. “But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.”
The official then praised the late Sen. John McCain, saying that America needs to follow his example because of “what we as a nation have allowed [Trump] to do to us.”