Behind Trump's Anger: Frustration at 'Deep State'

He was 'steaming, raging mad' over the weekend
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2017 3:33 AM CST
Trump's Weekend: 'Steaming, Raging Mad'
President Trump walks along the Colonnade outside the Oval Office upon arrival at the White House on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

One clear narrative has emerged in the wake of a weekend in which President Trump accused former President Obama of tapping his phones: Trump wasn't just in a bad mood over the last few days, he was livid—or "steaming, raging mad," as a piece at the Washington Post puts it. Coverage:

  • By most accounts, this was set off by Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision on Thursday to recuse himself from any Russia investigation. Trump felt he caved to pressure instead of defending himself, and he went "ballistic" at senior staffers in the Oval Office on Friday morning, reports ABC News.
  • "Nobody has seen him that upset," an unnamed source tells CNN, which has a video shot from outside a White House window of the meeting. See it here.

  • The New York Times says his "foul mood" remained as he left for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the weekend, and the story says it spilled over to Saturday morning, when he woke and began tweeting about Obama.
  • Friend Christopher Ruddy, chief executive at Newsmax, saw him on the golf course Saturday. “He was pissed,” Ruddy tells the Post. "I haven't seen him this angry." The Post has the most detailed account of the president's weekend, which it says was fueled not just by Sessions but by Trump's growing anger about what he views as the opposition of the "deep state" (entrenched bureaucrats and intelligence officials) to his presidency. That narrative in particular is reportedly a big one being pushed in private meetings with Trump by aide Steve Bannon. Read the story here.
  • Trump told Ruddy he would be "proven right" about the Obama surveillance, and a White House official tells Axios that Trump is "absolutely convinced" of it. "The president just has a great nose for these things," said the official, adding that "it's the bureaucratic leaks—the deep state—that bother him most."
(More President Trump stories.)

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