"One of the main differences between this Trump Administration and the previous term: he is currently surrounded by people who take his craziest ideas and then come up with elaborate rationalisations for why he should do them."

"One of the main differences between this Trump Administration and the previous term: ... the adults from the first term either said 'enough' after Jan 6th and walked away, or they found themselves driven out because they refused to budge on one or more of Trump's craziest ideas.

"That means the 2nd term self-selected for people who, through their own lack of virtue, are unbothered by the ethical failures of the first term, and people who are True Believers (tm) in the craziest schemes of Trumpism today. Or both. ...

"[So h]e is currently surrounded by people who take his craziest ideas and then come up with elaborate rationalisations for why he should do them.

"Trump wants tariffs on everyone and everything? 'You know, Mr. President, there's this law called IEEPA...'

"Trump proposes some bonkers scheme to invade Greenland because he wants to make the country larger? 'You know, Mr. President, Greenland is actually important for US national security...'

"In the previous Administration, there were at least a few adults who shut down the wackiest impulses of Trump or deflected them to other areas. Now, flattering Trump's wackiest impulses is a pathway to promotion."

~ Phil Magness

"The adults in his previous term were people who believed in real governance—whether one liked their particular ideological or policy leanings or not—and thought Trump could be moderated with intelligent guidance. They were patriotic people who wanted to serve their country whether or not they approved of who has been elected.

"This time, every adult knew Trump could not be moderated, that they could not effectively serve their country, but could only support the crazy or be destroyed. So the stayed away in droves.

"And of course that suited Trump just fine. The first time around he was uncertain, and he wanted the patina of serious expert people around him. But he chafed at not being able to control them, and he came to realise all he needed (personally, with certainty, and possibly politically) was the continued adoration of the MAGA crowd. So he has been happy to not have any qualified people on board, but to have sycophants who both inflate his ego and keep the MAGA folks swooning in political ecstasy.

"And the adults are just sitting by thinking about whether an actual seizure of power through cancelled or rigged elections is [possible], and how to prevent it if there's a real danger of it, and how to restore some sanity, decency, and global trust when this passes."

~ James Hanley