Trump's Big CON: It's All About the Show, Explained, CONt. Part 6

UPDATE II:  "Increasingly, those around Trump are opting to plead with him through the media, hoping that will do what private conversations cannot. They are all unmistakable cries for help. But now, for the first time, we have a very public cry for help from someone who is extremely close — personally — to Trump. . .

[I]t suggests Barrack is hugely frustrated by his friend's unwillingness to take his advice. And it explains why Barrack would go public.

Of course, saying these things publicly also only adds to the circus that is the Trump administration. But Barrack — and plenty of others — have made the calculated decision to say them even if it increases the perception of discord in the White House. They've clearly decided this is the best, highly imperfect method for getting through to Trump. That's desperation, pure and simple.

If someone like Barrack can't prevail upon Trump using that method, it's unlikely anyone will. And by Barrack's description of Trump, I wouldn't hold my breath."

Read the Washington Post, This is the biggest cry for help from a Trump adviser yet.

UPDATE:  Sometimes, even your closest friends don't know you that well.

"Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire who is one of President Trump’s oldest friends . . .

in interviews with The Washington Post, said he has been 'shocked' and 'stunned' by some of the president’s rhetoric and inflammatory tweets. He disagrees with some of Trump’s proposals, including his efforts to ban immigrants from certain Muslim countries and his push for a border wall with Mexico. He wonders why his longtime friend spends so much of his time appealing to the fringes of American politics.

'He thinks he has to be loyal to his base,' Barrack said. 'I keep on saying, ‘But who is your base? You don’t have a natural base. Your base now is the world and America, so you have all these constituencies; show them who you really are.’ In my opinion, he’s better than this.' . .

Barrack said he has often thought about how he has remained a close friend for 30 years with a man whose 'reputation is selfish and egotistical. Here’s what I think the answer is: I’ve never needed anything from him . . . I was always subservient to him.' Barrack said that his life intersected with Trump “at soft moments,” such as discussions about their divorces and children. He was at Trump’s side during the funeral of Trump’s father, Fred, and they talked for a half-hour about “the weight of a hard dad, and the baton passing.” As a result, Barrack said, he has seen within Trump “a kind of compassion at a very lonely level.”

Read the Washington Post, ‘He’s better than this,’ says Thomas Barrack, Trump’s loyal whisperer.

"Over the weekend, President Trump was accused by a Republican senator of running the White House like a “reality show.” In the 48 hours that followed, this is how the president rebutted the characterization.

He called out the offending senator for being short and sounding like 'a fool.' He challenged his secretary of state to an I.Q. contest and insisted he would win. He celebrated the downfall of a critic who was suspended from her job. And his first wife and third wife waged a public war of words over who was really his first lady.

Mr. Trump’s West Wing has always seemed to be the crossroads between cutthroat politics and television drama, presided over by a seasoned showman who has made a career of keeping the audience engaged and coming back for more. Obsessed by ratings and always on the hunt for new story lines, Mr. Trump leaves the characters on edge, none of them ever really certain whether they might soon be voted off the island.

'Absolutely, I see those techniques playing out,' said Laurie Ouellette, a communications professor at the University of Minnesota who has studied reality television extensively. 'Reality TV is known for its humiliation tactics and its aggressive showmanship and also the idea that either you’re in or you’re out, with momentum building to the final decision on who stays and who goes.'

Among those on the in-or-out bubble in this week’s episode was Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the frustrated Republican who described — and derided — the conversion of the White House into a virtual set for “The Apprentice” and, for good measure, expressed concern in a weekend interview with The New York Times that the president could stumble the country into a nuclear war.

Mr. Trump, who hosted 'The Apprentice' on NBC for 14 seasons, dismissed Mr. Corker on Tuesday by mocking his height and suggesting he had somehow been conned. 'The Failing @nytimes set Liddle’ Bob Corker up by recording his conversation,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'Was made to sound a fool, and that’s what I am dealing with!'

In labeling Mr. Corker 'liddle,' the president was evidently returning to a theme. He considered Mr. Corker for secretary of state during the transition after last year’s election but was reported to have told associates that Mr. Corker, at 5-foot-7, was too short to be the nation’s top diplomat. Instead, Mr. Trump picked Rex W. Tillerson, who is several inches taller but whose own relationship with the president has deteriorated to the point that he was said to have called Mr. Trump a 'moron.' . .

In an interview aired on Monday to promote her new memoir, Ivana Trump, his first wife, told ABC News that 'I’m basically first Trump wife, O.K.? I’m first lady, O.K.?'

That did not sit well with Melania Trump, his third wife and the actual first lady, who issued a retort through a spokeswoman dismissing what she called 'attention-seeking and self-serving noise.'

Andy Cohen, the creator of the 'Real Housewives' reality television show franchise, found that too rich. “This is actually happening,” he wrote on Twitter. 'All the wives are fighting. Even I AM SPEECHLESS.'

Mr. Trump’s gibe at Mr. Corker echoed his name calling during the presidential campaign when he labeled Senator Marco Rubio of Florida 'Little Marco,' Senator Ted Cruz of Texas 'Lyin’ Ted' and Hillary Clinton 'Crooked Hillary.' He has used belittling nicknames to diminish political foes since taking office, as well — think 'Cryin’ Chuck' Schumer, 'Psycho Joe' Scarborough and 'Little Rocket Man' Kim Jong-un — but has generally avoided doing so with powerful Republican committee chairmen who control appointments and legislation. . .

Ms. Ouellette, who has written or edited several books on reality television, including 'Better Living Through Reality TV,' said Mr. Trump the president had gone even further than Mr. Trump the reality show star ever did.

'This has exceeded what would have been allowed on ‘The Apprentice,’' she said. 'It’s almost a magnification. It’s like reality TV unleashed. Yes, he was good at it, but I always felt like he had to be reined in in order not to mess up the formula. Here, he doesn’t have that same sort of constraint.'"

Read The New York Times, For Trump, the Reality Show Has Never Ended.