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NEW YORK, N.Y. — President Donald Trump is more comfortable on the job in his second term, according to a panel of journalists tasked with covering his every move.
Atlantic reporters Jonathan Lemire, Ashley Parker, Missy Ryan and Michael Scherer discussed what it’s like to cover the White House and other powerful institutions Thursday on stage during the magazine’s annual festival at Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City.
“We’re seeing someone who completed, arguably, the greatest comeback in American political history. He trusts his instincts and very few others and is sort of an unfettered version of himself,” Lemire said.
Lemire said Trump’s second administration is filled with “true believers” and “loyalists,” while remnants of the “old Republican establishment” are long gone.
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“He also is just more comfortable with the job and how to use the levers of power,” Lemire said. “That also includes the relationship with the press and how he dictated change in terms of that relationship.”
Parker said the presence of chief of staff Susie Wiles has helped, while deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller spent the four years out of power “plotting and planning” how to run a “bigger, stronger, faster, better, more ruthless” White House the second time around.
Scherer agreed, noting that Trump came back with a much clearer idea about what he can accomplish and how it would impact his legacy.
“I was in Dallas last week when he did the midterm convention. His message was, ‘Vote for me one more time,’” Scherer said.
“There’s sort of a different, almost nostalgic approach he’s taking to things,” he continued. “But it is really about, like, ‘This is my last chance to do what I can to get to make my mark.’”
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Ryan, who covers national security and foreign policy, isn’t thrilled that the Pentagon hasn’t held a formal press briefing for months, and staff writer Vivian Salama, who moderated the conversation, said it’s harder for journalists to get scoops this time.
Scherer said the lack of leaks from inside the White House showed how it “operates as a unified body” under Wiles.
“The people under her are loyal to her. They’re loyal to the president also, but it operates as a functioning organization,” Scherer said.
“The first Trump term, there were three or four camps in that same space. They were often warring with each other and stabbing each other in the back and competing for the president,” Scherer continued. “It’s harder now. It’s harder to get inside-the-room details than it was in the first term, but it can still be done.”
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While the second Trump administration has been tighter-lipped than the first administration, Scherer said the Obama and Biden administrations operated like bureaucratic law firms.
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“We still have more access here, I think, than we had in recent Democratic administrations, just because they had so much discipline. They had a different ethos about them,” Scherer said.
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