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Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesn’t Want to Be President

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Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesn?t Want to Be President - Yahoo Finance

In an open letter to voters supporting Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, the former communications director of Trump’s now-defunct Super PAC said that the former reality television star not only never expected to be the Republican nominee, much less president, but never even wanted to be.?

“I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far,” she wrote. “And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all.

“He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Cegielski, now an adjunct professor at New York University and the owner of a communications firm, said that she was a true believer herself when she was recruited to join the Super PAC.

“I was tired of the rhetoric in Washington. Negativity and stubbornness were at an all-time high, and the presidential prospects didn't look promising,” she wrote. In 2015, I fell in love with the idea of the protest candidate who was not bought by corporations. A man who sat in a Manhattan high-rise he had built, making waves as a straight talker with a business background, full of successes and failures, who wanted America to return to greatness. I was sold.”

Related: Why a Trump Candidacy Threatens the GOP Majority in Congress

But as time went on, she said, she came to realize that Trump’s entry into the race had always been about raising his own profile, not about actually winning a presidential nomination.

“Trump never intended to be the candidate. But his pride is too out of control to stop him now,” she wrote.
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Personally I am a bit skeptical of what this insider has to say. I am no fan of Trump and I think he is a dangerous demagogue who brings out the worst in many people, but my BS filter also tells me that Cegielski is probably not entirely truthful in her account and is doing this to get attention and perhaps snipe at her former boss out of hard feelings.

If true though, the story is definitely worth reporting.
 
tacomancer said:
Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesn?t Want to Be President - Yahoo Finance



Personally I am a bit skeptical of what this insider has to say. I am no fan of Trump and I think he is a dangerous demagogue who brings out the worst in many people, but my BS filter also tells me that Cegielski is probably not entirely truthful in her account and is doing this to get attention and perhaps snipe at her former boss out of hard feelings.

If true though, the story is definitely worth reporting.
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Often times there are grains of truth to be found.
 
Ms. Cegielski isn't providing any new or "inside" information. She is merely echoing a story that had been printed a few weeks earlier. At the same time, she is also missing some earlier information that suggested that Trump may well have given serious consideration to seeking the Presidency.

From The New York Times:

That evening of public abasement, rather than sending Mr. Trump away, accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature within the political world. And it captured the degree to which Mr. Trump’s campaign is driven by a deep yearning sometimes obscured by his bluster and bragging: a desire to be taken seriously.

That desire has played out over the last several years within a Republican Party that placated and indulged him, and accepted his money and support, seemingly not grasping how fervently determined he was to become a major force in American politics. In the process, the party bestowed upon Mr. Trump the kind of legitimacy that he craved, which has helped him pursue a credible bid for the presidency.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign.html

However, there's more. Trump reportedly gave serious thought to pursuing the Presidency in the past. From another New York Times story:

An examination by The New York Times of contemporaneous documents and emails, as well as interviews with people who met with Mr. Trump during that period, found how he carefully weighed a run, measuring whether the governor’s office was a necessary steppingstone to his long-held goal: the White House. His calculations at the time run contrary to the seat-of-the-pants image he projects on the campaign trail, and offer a look at a formative stage of his presidential ambitions.

He discussed with state Republican leaders the idea of using the governorship as a platform to run for president, a situation in which he would serve for a year or so and be succeeded by his lieutenant governor.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/nyregion/donald-trump-new-york-governor.html

Finally, Ms. Cegielski stated of Trump, "He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House..." That does not exactly speak well of her judgment. Why would one rationally support a candidate who is not fit for the office that candidate is seeking?

Of course, her abandoning Trump is a positive and welcome development.
 
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Trump and I have something in common. I don't want him to be President either.
 
Deep down I don't think Trump believes he will win the Presidency but I am pretty sure he would be thrilled if he did win.
 
tacomancer said:
Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesn?t Want to Be President - Yahoo Finance

Personally I am a bit skeptical of what this insider has to say. I am no fan of Trump and I think he is a dangerous demagogue who brings out the worst in many people, but my BS filter also tells me that Cegielski is probably not entirely truthful in her account and is doing this to get attention and perhaps snipe at her former boss out of hard feelings.

If true though, the story is definitely worth reporting.
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It's quite possible. The article doesn't read as someone who is trying to defend themselves, though. The PAC was shut down (as I recall) because it started to come out that it had been coordinating with the campaign.

This:

“He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness.”
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Sure seems to match what we've seen.



donsutherland1 said:
Finally, Ms. Cegielski stated of Trump, "He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House..." That does not exactly speak well of her judgment. Why would one rationally support a candidate who is not fit for the office that candidate is seeking?
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She says that the initial logic for the Trump campaign was that they were to be a protest candidate.
 
The grains of truth in this thread are obvious:
(1) Trump never imagined he'd be the front runner as GOP presidential nominee. He said so very early on in the first debate held by FOX NEWS. He raised his hand to not indicate his willingness to sign a pledge to be 'faithful' to the GOP. At that first debate, he didn't trust the party elite. You see, he was once a part of the party elite. Now he sees the party elite as THE roadblock to actually getting things accomplished.
(2) Trump's party allegiances have changed from dem to GOP with the high debt, the non-patrolling of the borders and lack of opportunities for business to thrive in the US, for example.
 
I still say Trump is a rich guy who woke up one and looked at his bucket list and saw that "President" was not scratched off.
I don't think he will take the running of the country all that seriously if he makes it that far.
I would be surprised if he tries to follow through on any of his more insane schemes (trying to make Mexico pay for the wall, keeping Muslims from entering the country during the "war on terror", bullying China to the bargaining table, etc.) instead of just sitting in the big chair and making more speeches. Maybe he will be able to blame Congress for not working with him too...who knows?
 
cpwill said:
She says that the initial logic for the Trump campaign was that they were to be a protest candidate.
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But shouldn't a protest candidate also be nominally fit for office, even if that candidate isn't the strongest candidate?
 
These statements are contradictory:

“I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far,” she wrote. “And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all.

“He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness.”

If the Donald doesn't fail or show weaknesses he would not have entered the race with the expectation of failing as her first statement implies.

So I call BS.
 
donsutherland1 said:
But shouldn't a protest candidate also be nominally fit for office, even if that candidate isn't the strongest candidate?
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:shrug: depends on how you see your function. She argues that no one thought he could win or come close to winning - that Double Digits was the thing they were aiming for.
 
Trump couldn't have possibly thought the insane and bankrupt way he's campaigned would win him the nomination.

He underestimated the hillbillies of this country. He's benefitting from the same idiocy Obama did on the other side that Hillary is tapping into.
 
cpwill said:
It's quite possible. The article doesn't read as someone who is trying to defend themselves, though. The PAC was shut down (as I recall) because it started to come out that it had been coordinating with the campaign.

This:



Sure seems to match what we've seen.





She says that the initial logic for the Trump campaign was that they were to be a protest candidate.
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Well, his campaign certainly is that - a full throated protest against Muslims, illegal immigrants, women, minorities and most of all corporate-backed establishment (career, heavily lobby-connected) Republicans.
 
donsutherland1 said:
But shouldn't a protest candidate also be nominally fit for office, even if that candidate isn't the strongest candidate?
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The name Obama comes to mind as another protest candidate.
 
Gaius46 said:
These statements are contradictory:

“I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far,” she wrote. “And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all.

“He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness.”

If the Donald doesn't fail or show weaknesses he would not have entered the race with the expectation of failing as her first statement implies.

So I call BS.
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If your goal is to come in second place by polling at 12% to another persons 40%, its not a failure if that happens.

I think the point that is missed a bit is she was working for a Super PAC. She shouldn't have been having any direct coordination with the candidate so calling her an insider is inaccurate unless we are going to start bringing campaign fraud charges against Trump which I'm sure he'd blame on an intern like she suggests. I do find it odd that she was hired to a super PAC INSIDE Trump Towers. That seems like it would require at least some coordination, but maybe not illegal levels. I don't doubt what's she's saying is her opinion and has some level of truth, but the way this story is being shared is ridiculous. OccupyDemocrats said she was Trump's TOP STRATEGIST.
 
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