https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbr...n-much-different-way-than-obama/#3c6e04a3def7
Topline
For a brief moment during a rally in Wisconsin Thursday evening, Americans caught a rare glimpse into personal life of President Trump, who ranted about the loneliness of the office, seemed to joke that he likes to surround himself with “less successful” people to make himself feel more “powerful,” and complained about his friends treating him differently, a stark contrast to President Obama, who once said his friendships gave him “serenity” when reflecting on his time in the White House.
Key Facts
“I lost all my friends” since becoming president, Trump said during a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, before complaining about how before he was president, he could regularly hang out with his friends, who were “nice and loose.”
Trump said since becoming president his closest friends have become much more formal with him and now call him “Mr. President,” instead of “Donald,” and he now has to rely on “people in Congress” to be his friends.
This change has happened even though most of his friends are “very important people,” Trump explained, before the president told the crowd he actually prefers “less successful” people because it makes him feel “so powerful.”
The comments strike a contrast with Obama, who once talked about having a “gift” of “really, really good friends.”
Those friends gave him “a certain serenity in the midst of a lot of foolishness," Obama told his former senior advisor, David Axelrod, during an interview on Axelrod’s podcast, The Axe Files, in 2016.
Obama also told Axelrod that his friends never call him “Mr. President.”
Tangent
In 2019, Trump reportedly cut ties with one of his closest friends, Tom Barrack, due to a dispute about Barrack’s job as chairman of the president’s 2017 inauguration fund.
Key Background
Trump’s rant about his relationships may have been his way of trying to convey the sacrifices he feels he made to become president. The president and his campaign have repeatedly talked about the life Trump “gave up” to run for office. During an interview with Barstool Sports in July, Trump said that the “best day” of his life was the day before he became president—though he later added he was “glad” he ended up running. “Everything was good,” Trump said about the day before he began his presidential run. “The company was good. I had finished up a lot of jobs that were very successful, and then I said, ‘I want to do this.’” The president also talked about an event he went into shortly after announcing his presidential run in which he was booed, he claims, “for the first time” in his life.
Further Reading
The Loneliest President (Politico)
Obama on friendship: My friends never call me Mr. President (CNN)
Topline
For a brief moment during a rally in Wisconsin Thursday evening, Americans caught a rare glimpse into personal life of President Trump, who ranted about the loneliness of the office, seemed to joke that he likes to surround himself with “less successful” people to make himself feel more “powerful,” and complained about his friends treating him differently, a stark contrast to President Obama, who once said his friendships gave him “serenity” when reflecting on his time in the White House.
Key Facts
“I lost all my friends” since becoming president, Trump said during a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, before complaining about how before he was president, he could regularly hang out with his friends, who were “nice and loose.”
Trump said since becoming president his closest friends have become much more formal with him and now call him “Mr. President,” instead of “Donald,” and he now has to rely on “people in Congress” to be his friends.
This change has happened even though most of his friends are “very important people,” Trump explained, before the president told the crowd he actually prefers “less successful” people because it makes him feel “so powerful.”
The comments strike a contrast with Obama, who once talked about having a “gift” of “really, really good friends.”
Those friends gave him “a certain serenity in the midst of a lot of foolishness," Obama told his former senior advisor, David Axelrod, during an interview on Axelrod’s podcast, The Axe Files, in 2016.
Obama also told Axelrod that his friends never call him “Mr. President.”
Tangent
In 2019, Trump reportedly cut ties with one of his closest friends, Tom Barrack, due to a dispute about Barrack’s job as chairman of the president’s 2017 inauguration fund.
Key Background
Trump’s rant about his relationships may have been his way of trying to convey the sacrifices he feels he made to become president. The president and his campaign have repeatedly talked about the life Trump “gave up” to run for office. During an interview with Barstool Sports in July, Trump said that the “best day” of his life was the day before he became president—though he later added he was “glad” he ended up running. “Everything was good,” Trump said about the day before he began his presidential run. “The company was good. I had finished up a lot of jobs that were very successful, and then I said, ‘I want to do this.’” The president also talked about an event he went into shortly after announcing his presidential run in which he was booed, he claims, “for the first time” in his life.
Further Reading
The Loneliest President (Politico)
Obama on friendship: My friends never call me Mr. President (CNN)
