Bombshell leaks about debates inside the White House show that President Donald Trump’s top aides are beginning to turn on him, his longtime biographer says.
Author Michael Wolff said stories published this week in The New York Times and The Washington Post detailing internal White House debates over the threat of AI and the GOP’s odds in November were likely driven by top aides frustrated with Trump’s refusal to listen to his advisers.
The Times reported on Friday that White House aides have urged Trump to exercise more caution on AI after he publicly dismissed AI fears as a “hoax.” On Saturday, The Post reported that Trump has taken a more sober view on the midterms, signaling in private conversations with advisers that he understands how his decision-making on the Iran war has contributed to dismal polling for Republicans.
Wolff told Inside Trump’s Head co-host Joanna Coles on Saturday that the leaks signal “we’re in new territory.”
“What advisors are saying on a larger basis is he has departed reality. He can’t see,” Wolff said, adding that it was “a big thing” that White House aides “are taking issue with the president and with this president.”
“Now remember, these people know that he is Donald Trump, that he is mercurial, that he doesn’t listen to people. They know this; they’re used to this. So what they are saying is that this goes beyond that. We’re in new territory,” he continued.
Sources told The Times that Trump’s private outbursts about AI stem from his concerns that the AI boom fueling the American economy could slow down, potentially leading to a market crash and recession.
“I think it’s probably a nice way of saying that he’s concerned with his own issues, which is that if the stock market plunges before the election, that’s a problem,” Wolff said. “Plus he and his family are heavily invested in this. There is this major issue—possibly, arguably the major issue of our time—which he is dismissing out of hand for his own self-interest. That’s what the White House, the West Wing staff, is saying on that issue.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
Trump briefly joined the All-In Summit in California on Monday when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang put him on speakerphone in front of a live audience.
“I’m telling you, it’s all a hoax,” Trump said. “The data centers are great, and they make people wealthy, and they make states wealthy.”
Asked about Trump’s remark, White House spokesperson Elizabeth Huston told The Times that “President Trump is saying that Democrats using A.I. concern as a way to score points is a hoax, just like their claims that climate change would kill everyone in six years.”
The White House has shed several top aides in recent months. Press staffers Karoline Leavitt, Abigail Jackson, Patrick Adams, and Sonny Joy Nelson have all departed the Trump administration.
Other high-profile exits include Paige Willey, the deputy assistant to the president for economic policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council; Deputy National Security Adviser Andy Baker; Legislative Affairs Director James Braid; Senior Policy Strategist Emily Underwood; and Cabinet Affairs Director Lea Bardon.
“The signal that is being sent here is a signal nearly of rebellion,” Wolff said.
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