Senior official’s piece in the New York Times says many of Trump’s own officials are working against the ‘amoral’ president

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The New York Times has published an op-ed essay which it says is by a senior official in the Trump administration who describes how they and others are trying to keep the president in check.

Trump has castigated it as a “gutless editorial” and called for its author to be revealed.

Here are five key points from the essay:

1. Many officials are working against Trump from within the administration

The anonymous author of the New York Times’s essay, titled I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump administration, says that many officials across government are working inside the administration as part of a “quiet resistance”.

Trump aide's anonymous op-ed reveals 'resistance' inside administration Read more

The author says: “I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

One example given is officials pushing on with sanctions against Russia despite the president’s opposition to them. Across the administration people are “choosing to put country first”. The author says this is not the “deep state” but the “steady state”.

2. There have been ‘whispers of invoking 25th amendment’

The instability in the White House, the author claims, prompted “early whispers” within cabinet of invoking the 25th amendment. This allows for the vice-president to become president in the event of removal from office, death, impairment or resignation of the current president.

“But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis,” the op-ed says. “So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until – one way or another – it’s over.”

Play Video 5:26 What is the 25th amendment and could it remove Trump? – video explainer

3. President’s ‘amorality’ is the root of the problem

The author says those who work with the president know that he is “not moored to any discernible first principles”.

They say he has little affinity with Republican ideals cherished by conservatives. The author, who says the opposition is not the popular resistance of the left, criticizes the attacks on the press and says Trump’s instincts are anti-democratic.

4. It’s not all bad and there are unsung heroes

The author says there are “bright spots” that the “near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture”. The official cites as examples deregulation, historic tax reform and a more robust military.

“But these successes have come despite – not because of – the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”

And there are unsung heroes in and around the White House, the author says, despite many being cast as villains by the media.

5. The late Senator John McCain is a ‘lodestar’ of honor

The late senator John McCain, whom Trump had clashed with, was an honorable man whose example should be revered, the author says.

“We will always have his example – a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue.”





