Donald Trump continued on election night 2020 and continued his last days in office, unraveling America with him and dragging him to the point where his followers fired the American Capitol with two more weeks in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.
Episode 4: Trump torches the most likely result in his cabinet.
Attorney General Bill Barr stood behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, which threatens Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was December 1, almost a month after the election, and Barr had some sharp advice to get off his chest. The president’s theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were “nonsense.”
White House councilor Pat Cipollone and several other assistants in the room were shocked that Barr came out and said that – even though they knew it was true. The attorney general has issued a warning that the new legal team on which Trump is betting his future is “clownish”.
Trump angrily dragged Barr in to explain himself after seeing a breaking AP story all over Twitter, with the caption: “Disputes Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud.” But Barr did not back down. Three weeks later he would be gone.
The relationship between the president and his attorney general was probably the most important in Trump’s cabinet. And in the six months before this meeting, the relationship between the two men quietly broke down. No one was more loyal than Bill Barr. But for Trump, that was never enough.
The president has become too manic even for his most loyal allies, who increasingly listened to the conspiracy theorists echoing his own views and offering an illusion, an alternative reality.
By the late summer of 2020, Trump and Barr were regularly arguing about how to deal with the growing Black Lives Matter protests caused by the death of George Floyd while in police custody. As the national movement unfolded, some protests gave way to violence and looting. Trump wanted the US government to crack down on the unrest.
The president wanted to appeal to the Insurrection Act and send the military to U.S. cities. He wanted troops in the street. Some hardcore outside allies, including Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, accompanied him. The thankless job of pushing back falls to Barr.
Sometimes Barr was the heat shield between the president and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, who both strongly objected to Trump’s fantasies of the U.S. troops descending on Portland.
The president regularly summoned a group of national security leaders to the Oval Office, and one meeting in mid-August was particularly erratic.
From his seat behind the Resolute Desk, an excited Trump barr told to go do something, and to do so immediately – make an announcement, send the troops in something. Just go in and fix it, the president ordered. He wanted a devastating and challenging power.
Barr disagrees. He thought the heat in the protests was gradually decreasing. He outlined the law enforcement strategy and his view that military intervention would flare up again. Federal investigators have been searching for the heads in the protests.
Besides, Barr asked, what was the endgame of adding the Army? Federal forces could end up in a city like Portland indefinitely.
Trump became increasingly frustrated, but Barr pushed back harder and stood in front of everyone in the room. He was ready, willing and able to be strong, he said. But, he added, we must also be considerate.
What would these soldiers do, Barr pointed out. Just standing around and being yelled at? Trump did not care. We look weak and it hurts us, he said. Then he slapped his hand on the Resolute Desk.
“Nobody supports me,” Trump shouted. “Nobody gives me fucking support.”
Trump gets up and storms out of the Oval Office into his private dining room, leaving Barr and the others behind. Barr glanced at White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with a red face and joked, “Well, it went well.”
Constant brawling over how aggressive they must be was a serious annoyance in the relationship. Trump wanted television shows of shock and awe, especially in Portland and Seattle.
Barr was no pacifist, but he thought Trump’s ideas were more aggressive than necessary. They fought all summer, and Barr later compared the experience privately to ‘Groundhog Day’. It’s always been Groundhog Day trying to explain things to Trump.
Trump was ricocheting between the advice of experienced advisers like Barr and Cipollone and the growing actions of outside instigators like Fitton who gradually succeeded.
In public, Barr praised Trump. Privately hurt his head. By September, Barr had done everything in his power to avoid the president. There was little direct contact between the two men, and Barr stopped visiting Trump in the White House.
He was sick of Trump making public statements and of others having to do so to lift pressure on U.S. Attorney John Durham to bring more prosecutions or to interpret a report on the Russian investigation before the election.
When Rudy Giuliani tried to release the alleged contents of Hunter Biden’s hard drive in mid-October, Trump allies began pushing Barr to appoint a special council to investigate his opponent’s son. Without Trump being aware of it, the Department of Justice has already investigated Hunter Biden. But Barr, in line with the department’s policy, kept the investigation secret.
Barr so maneuvered that he was dealing primarily with Meadows and Cipollone. Those around the two men could see that Barr was irritated and frustrated by the president’s constant needles.
Avoiding Trump has become easier as the campaign heated up. The president spent more time on the rail and spent less time in the oval office.
But Barr’s pause ends after Election Day, when Trump works with a series of conspiracy theorists to bolster ominous theories about election interference, arguing that Biden and the Chinese Communist Party, among others, stole his election.
On Nov. 29, Trump told Fox News that Barr’s Department of Justice was “missing in action.” Barr was furious. In fact, the attorney general examined the department’s precedent to expedite federal investigations into allegations of electoral fraud. The justice department was not lacking in action – there was just no evidence of major fraud.
Barr interviewed to the AP’s reports reporter, Michael Balsamo, making it clear on the record. This will bring things to the forefront.
When he left for the White House on December 1 for meetings, Barr knew that Balsamo’s story would possibly take effect while he was there. He soon finds himself in the president’s private dining room, along with Meadows, Cipollone, Trump and others. They sat at a long table under a gleaming chandelier, amid Trump equipment surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows.
Trump was at his usual seat at the head of the table, with a large flat-screen TV with the low noise. On screen, the conspiracy One America News network is playing a trial of the Michigan Senate over election fraud.
Trump saw Balsamo’s story, and he was fuming. “Why would you say something like that? You must hate Trump. There is no other reason for that. You must hate Trump,” the president accused, speaking in the third person about himself.
“These things are not happening,” Barr told the president as he stood next to his chief of staff Will Levi. “The things these people fill your ear with are not true.” Barr explained that if Trump wants to challenge the election results, the president’s internal campaign advocates will have to do so.
The Justice Department, he continued, looked at the most important fraud allegations made by Trump’s lawyers. “It’s just bullshit,” Barr told the president. Cipollone supported Barr by saying the DOJ was investigating these claims.
Trump pointed to TV and asked if Barr had watched the trial. Barr said he did not. “Maybe you should,” the president said. Barr reiterated that the Department of Justice does not ignore the allegations, but that Trump’s outside attorneys are doing terrible work.
“I’m a fairly knowledgeable legal observer and can not understand what the theory is here,” he added. “It’s just a sprinkler. It’s everywhere on the hill and is gone. ‘
“Maybe,” Trump said. “Can be.”
A week later, the New York Times reported that Barr was considering resigning. Barr’s relationship with the president became untenable, and the president listened to Sidney Powell and Giuliani instead of his White House board and attorney general.
Barr decides to quit before their private skirmishes spread further into the public view. Some have speculated that he has stopped talking about the president’s increasingly dubious forgiveness. But it had nothing to do with it. Barr made it clear to Cipollone that he did not want to be asked about this waiver. He does not need to hear about it until he has received the official notices. The only pardon he tried to stop for the time being was for Edward Snowden.
On December 14, Trump and Barr met in the Oval Office. Others were there with Trump when the attorney general arrived there. Barr asked that the room be cleaned so they could talk privately. He set out his reasons for stepping down early and explained that although they had a good relationship, they now do not disagree on important matters.
They did not need a public blast. It was time to leave while the departure could still be friendly. Barr later told staff that the meeting was calm and rational and that he had written his resignation letter – which the president praised for his policy achievements.
Trump appreciated Barr’s loyalty and praise. But praise and loyalty were not enough.
On election fraud, Barr told Trump what he did not want to hear, and the president stopped listening. It was time for Barr to go.
🎧 Listen to Jonathan Swan on Axios’ new investigative podcast series, titled “How It Happened: Trump’s Last Stand.”
Read the rest of the episodes “Off the rails” here.
About this series: Our reporting is based on multiple interviews with current and former White House, officials, government and congressional officials, as well as direct eyewitnesses and people close to the president. Sources were given anonymously to share sensitive observations or details that they might not formally disclose. President Trump and other officials to whom citations and actions have been attributed have been given the opportunity to confirm, deny or respond to reporting elements prior to publication.
‘Off the rails’ is reported by Jonathan Swan, White House Reporter, with coverage and assistance from Zach Basu. It was edited by Margaret Talev and Mike Allen. Illustrations by Sarah Grillo, Aïda Amer and Eniola Odetunde.