Donald Trump is deliberately softening his tone.
Or is he?
I’ve thought about this a lot, having interviewed Trump twice this year, including two weeks before the election. He was focused and substantive, trying to appeal to a more independent audience, and while he shot some campaign-style shots, he was relatively restrained by Trump standards.
Now that he is the de facto president, I see a similar take on Trump in the “Meet the Press” interviews. Kristen Welker’s follow-up must have pissed him off because he told her she asked “nasty” questions.
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During the campaign, such incidents were overshadowed by Trump’s rock rallies, in which he droned on about the great Hannibal Lecter or Arnold Palmer’s genitals. But his declaration on NBC that he also wanted to represent those who didn’t vote for him was a far cry from his 2017 “American carnage” inaugural address.
However, the president-elect has also mastered the art of saying things that can be interpreted either way or sending a less coded message.
The Washington Post editorial board was not a big fan, saying Trump was “trying to strike a conciliatory tone toward Welker” backed by substance.
President-elect Trump appears to be making a concerted, deliberate effort to tone down his tone and language. (Screenshot/NBC)
Trump has declared that he will not remove Fed Chairman Powell and hopes to work with Democrats to protect Dreamers. Trump said he “will not limit the availability of abortion pills nationwide and the United States will ‘absolutely’ remain in NATO as long as other members invest their committed funds in defense.”
Why shouldn’t he act more rationally? He got the job, which he believed was unfairly taken from him. He can’t run anymore. He knows his first term came under fierce attack from left-leaning media outlets. If he can have a more successful second term after bringing on some top aides in the last cycle, he could change the verdict of history.
This brings us to the question of retribution. He said on NBC that the best retribution is success, and this is what he said to me. On “Meet the Press,” he even walked back a campaign statement that he would appoint a special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden.
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When Welker asked if he would order the Justice Department (which he believes persecuted him) to investigate Biden and his administration, Trump gave a response I doubt he would have given in his first term.
No, he said, that would be up to his attorney general and FBI director, who would certainly be Pam Bondi and possibly Kash Patel. Would he tell them to do this? No.
This is called alienation.
Now one might say that he was actually suggesting that they do this by announcing it on national television. But I’m sure they knew his point anyway.
One mistake Trump made on NBC was lashing out at members of the House January 6 Committee. He said Liz Cheney “did something unforgivable, [Bennie] “Thompson and the members of the unselected committee are political thugs, you know, scumbags,” Trump told host Kristen Welker, arguing without evidence that they ” deleted and destroyed” testimony.
So it’s a gift to his critics that allows most journalists to join him in leading the charge in wanting lawmakers to go to jail. Incidentally, their investigations and hearings are protected by the Speech and Debate Clause, which confers immunity on members.
The moderate “Trump 2.0” raised his head during a media 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” and that he “expects everyone he puts in key leadership positions … to have the law applied equally to them.” Everybody,” referring to Bundy and Patel.
Likewise, Trump has largely avoided attacks on individual journalists after saying he would engage even with hostile media. But he made exceptions, scoffing at The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman when she co-authored several 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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Seasoned Trump watchers know that when he gets angry, he can slip off track, and it’s not just mass deportations, deep inflation cuts and drills, baby, drills.
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But I still believe that what we have seen so far is a more disciplined, restrained and moderate Trump. He campaigned for changes to the status quo, so there was a lot of conflict. What’s fascinating is that he’s actually been running the country while Biden has declined and refused to talk to the media since the pardon fiasco.
