July 21, 2017

"Look, I think that [Trump] has an amazing belief in his own ability to will what he thinks into reality."

"And I think that he thinks of reality as something that is subjective. So I think that what people characterize as 'he’s out of touch' or 'he’s not understating this' or 'he seems off,' or whatever—I think he has an amazing capacity to try to draw the world as he wants it. And I think that’s a lot of it."

Says the NYT reporter Maggie Haberman (who's had a lot of contact with Trump over the years), in an interview in The New Yorker with David Remnick, who asked her about Trump's "mental state" — "his grasp of life, of fact."

39 comments:

mockturtle said...

That what people characterize as 'he’s out of touch' or 'he’s not understating[sic?] this' or 'he seems off,' or whatever

Only from the NYT. Trump is possibly the most 'in touch' President we've had in decades.

Steve said...

He expresses his aspirations and doesn't wallow in past failures. He seeks to always escape the swamp of low expectations, like an amphibian seeking life on dry land and forcing life forward by evolution.

rcocean said...

Sorry, I don't care.

Who is halberman (sic)? Just another left-wing reporter, who'd be "teeing it up" for Hillary if things had gone differently.

And does she know much about trump? Not really. She just sees and talks to him occasionally, like all reporters. Does she see the "real" Trump? Of course not.

I've always been annoyed that these un-elected asshole reporters have such unwarranted power in our politics. Look, she's just the scribe. It shouldn't matter what the NYT or Wapo, let alone their scribblers think about anything.

mockturtle said...

Steve: OT, I know, but how did your interview go yesterday?

rcocean said...

She'd be singing Hillary's praises, if things had gone according to Plan.

Leora said...

One of the skills successful people have is negotiating with reality.

Earnest Prole said...

What sweet justice it is that with the media's embrace of postmodern relativism, it's Donald Trump who finally gets to show them how it's really done.

Mark Nielsen said...


A journalist says this? Projection.

buwaya said...

A similar sort of thing to say as "he thinks outside the box".

Which is a compliment, usually.

Unknown said...

"One of the skills successful people have is negotiating with reality."

Unfortunately for Trump reality wins in the end.

Big Mike said...

Unless, of course, it is the writers for the Times (and the Althouse commentators who comment from the left side of the political spectrum) who have an incomplete grasp on reality.

Michael K said...

"If you build it, they will come."

A leftist mantra if I ever heard one.

Trump has built things for many years,. He is more in touch with reality than the NY Times ever will be.

Roy Lofquist said...

The New Yorker cover of Mar 29, 1976 is NOT a joke.

http://time.com/3711286/see-best-new-yorker-covers/

Roy Lofquist said...

Click once to right to see cover.

Darrell said...

If Trump was out of touch, it's because he read the New York Times. And believed it.

dreams said...

"And I think that he thinks of reality as something that is subjective. So I think that what people characterize as 'he’s out of touch' or 'he’s not understating this' or 'he seems off,' or whatever—I think he has an amazing capacity to try to draw the world as he wants it. And I think that’s a lot of it."

That's how he gets thing done, he's spent his entire adult life making things happen.

Quayle said...

At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.

Isn't that just drawing the world as one wants it.

We have it on good authority that that's how it's all supposed to work. So why are leftists getting upset?

Darrell said...

The NYT (and the rest of BigMedia) didn't understand Trump's Warsaw speech either. They are the weirdos.

Narayanan said...

Rand's protagonist in 'Anthem' says ... I am. I think. I will.

I find Trump pleasure to watch as the plot develops. He is very aware of the battlespace. I hope he has armed himself well.

Robert Cook said...

"Only from the NYT. Trump is possibly the most 'in touch' President we've had in decades."

I'm sorry mockturtle, but if you really think that, you are out of touch!

Robert Cook said...

"That's how he gets thing done, he's spent his entire adult life making things happen."

To the extent he's made things happen, it's been through ripping off or refusing to pay his contractors.

Bad Lieutenant said...


mockturtle said...
Steve: OT, I know, but how did your interview go yesterday?
7/21/17, 6:04 PM

+1

traditionalguy said...

She sums it up well: That Leadership is all about "That Vision Thing." And you don't get it from Skull and Bones initiation rituals.

Kathryn51 said...

rcocean said...
Sorry, I don't care.

So, I visited this post, intending to post something like this and. . . . .what would be the point. Rcocean speaks for me.

Meanwhile, "Rear Window" (Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, directed by A. Hitchcock) is on TCM right now.

Not sure why I even visited Althouse this evening.

Birkel said...

One wonder how many contractors Robert Cook has hired. How many people on these pages have hired a contractor and felt takes to the cleaners and wish you had the wherewithal to fight it out in court?

How many lawyers have had clients who did sue a contractor?

Idiots gonna idiocy.

Nyamujal said...

"I think he has an amazing capacity to try to draw the world as he wants it. And I think that’s a lot of it."

Some of us like to think that's a sign of delusion.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HoodlumDoodlum said...

He got himself elected President of the United States by ripping off contractors. Sure, go with that.

Smart Progressive types have been saying for yeasts that reality is subjective. Is that suddenly a crazy view? They picked a bad time to alter their view!
Maybe Trump's approach is to "Be The Change He Wants To See In The World."

Critter said...

Hilarious. Does Haberman write for the Onion now?

She and her fellow travelers can't see the reality that enough Americans wanted Trump as president to elect him, and she thinks Trump doesn't have a grasp of life, of fact?

She believes Russia stole the election for Trump and she is the arbiter of reality?

She's so smart yet doesn't understand that Trump has different values than her and plays by different rules. So she finds him wanting in supporting her values and behavioral norms. I'm shocked!

If she is the best the NYT has to offer no wonder they are a failing business.

mockturtle said...

Cookie contends: To the extent he's made things happen, it's been through ripping off or refusing to pay his contractors.

How about refusing to pay for work that wasn't completed, work that was charged far above the estimate, work that wasn't done as ordered? As with Boeing, Trump is probably the first President in my lifetime who actually looks at the bill with scrutiny. Nobody is forced to do contract work for Trump and no company is forced to contract with the federal government.

Achilles said...

Nyamujal said...

Some of us like to think that's a sign of delusion.

Robert Cook said...

I'm sorry mockturtle, but if you really think that, you are out of touch!

Unknown said...

Unfortunately for Trump reality wins in the end.

7.5 more years losers. Every morning you are going to wake up and look at Trump's smirking face for 7.5 more years.

Republicans are going to have 60 seats in the senate for a generation after 2018. 30 red states vs. 20 blue states. That is best case for you. And we are going to primary the traitors out slowly but surely.

And the voter fraud commission is going to be cleaning up the voter rolls. I am expecting a few million illegal voters being suppressed. Have fun with reality losers.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

"he thinks of reality as something that is subjective" The speaker is a member of the political party that contends that there are dozens of genders, and that a child born with a penis might be a girl, and a child born with a vagina might be a boy, and that on any given day one can choose their gender so if big guys are feeling female they can go to the bathroom with little girls.



Kevin said...

I think he has an amazing capacity to try to draw the world as he wants it. And I think that’s a lot of it."

This is known as leadership. Were he using his power to draw the entire world with unisex, trans-freindly bathrooms, rather than helping people in Ohio have meaningful jobs, they'd surely recognize it as such.

Joe Schmoe said...

People, mostly journo-lefties, said the same thing - in an admiring way, I might add - about Steve Jobs.

Roger Sweeny said...

So Trump is a postmodernist.

Admirers of Derrida et al. should think hard about "unintended consequences."

Quayle said...

No, she's right. We'd be better off with the grounded, solid reality which emanates from the Clintons.

stlcdr said...

And yet, vast swaths of Americans support him.

The lefts attempt to ostracize Trump from his supporters is clearly lame. All it is doing is whipping the anti-trumpers into a frenzy "omg two scoops of ice Cream! Again!"

Being forced to watch and hear CNN in an airport, they talk of 'them' as literally having a mental disorder, dissecting every Trump tweet and applying it to 'them' - them being people who see little wrong with Trump.

Unknown said...

"And yet, vast swaths of Americans support him."

Yes, and their grasp on reality is just as tentative as Trump's.

Critter said...

"Yes, and their grasp on reality is just as tentative as Trump's."

I'm happy to hear the science is settled. We now know who can tell us what is real and what is not.

You must be part of the 47% who would find a serious strain in the relationship with any friend who supports Trump. That is, if you actually have any friends or even know anyone who supports Trump.

http://www.people-press.org/2017/07/20/since-trumps-election-increased-attention-to-politics-especially-among-women/