President Trump often says things that other presidents have been careful not to say. These are then used as justification by others for unprecedented actions that make it harder for this president to govern and will make it harder for future occupants of the Oval Office, too.
Just months into his presidency, transcripts of Trump’s calls to the leaders of Australia and Mexico were leaked to the press and published in full, an outrage that damaged foreign leaders’ confidence when talking to Washington. Leaked conversations inhibit the administrations in the conduct of diplomacy.
In 2018, the New York Times published an op-ed by an anonymous official claiming to be part of the “resistance” within the Trump administration. He or she proudly declared “that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”
This is an outrage. There is no fourth branch of government. Whether or not government officials believe the president’s actions are wise, he was elected, and they were not. Article II of the Constitution vests executive powers in the president. If bureaucrats take authority not delegated to them by the president, they are usurping it, arrogating what the Constitution says is his. Our republic cannot function as intended if bureaucrats decide what the elected government may and may not do.
On Tuesday, former national security adviser John Bolton is releasing a book months after leaving office. It will recount private conversations he had with Trump and conversations Trump had with world leaders.
Much of what Bolton writes is probably true. The portrait he paints is of a highly erratic decision-maker who lacks interest in the detail of policy and is primarily motivated in his own interests. These are not revelations but already well-known.
And the book sets a malignant precedent. Officials entrusted with positions of great power close to this and future presidents should not leave office and swiftly publish tell-all memoirs. Presidents should be entitled to have conversations with close advisers that are presumptively confidential. Just as it is unethical for officials to lobby immediately after leaving office, trading on their government service, so there is also something unseemly about Bolton disclosing details from conversations with Trump that he became privy to only because he was trusted.
During his interview on ABC promoting his book, Bolton said the most powerful person in the White House after Trump was the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner, he says, has played a leading role on issues, including immigration, Middle East peace, China, and the coronavirus response.
Why do you suppose this is? Probably because so many officials leak maliciously, so Trump shuns expert advice and trusts only those in his inner circle? Leakers can look on indignantly, but they have made this situation significantly worse.
Presidents are entitled to the counsel of their advisers. If Bolton profits handsomely from releasing this book, it will encourage future officials to follow his precedent and enrich themselves government service followed by copious spilling of beans. This limits the range of opinions that presidents will seek out. That is not the best way to govern.
