Report: Trump Nicknamed ‘The Two-Minute Man’ Over Short Attention Span
- 7 years ago
President Trump is gaining a reputation of having a short attention span, with the Washington Post citing inside sources going so far as to call him “the two minute man.”
President Trump is gaining a reputation of having a short attention span, with the Washington Post citing inside sources going so far as to call him “the two-minute man.”
The nickname was revealed while referencing the difficulties national security adviser H.R. McMaster and the rest of the administration have had in resolving the conflict in Afghanistan.
The source added, “The president has patience for a half-page.”
The Post also reports that one of McMaster’s major challenges in identifying a plan for the war-torn country has been getting the president to focus.
President Trump has a tendency to jump from topic to topic during classified briefings, according to the Post. An official at the meetings stated, “We moved very quickly from news to intelligence to policy with very little clarity on which lanes we were in.”
Politico reports that Trump’s short attention span has long been one of his noted characteristics; Michael D’Antonio, who wrote a book about the businessman, has said, “I think he’s definitely got attention deficit disorder...That doesn’t mean he isn’t really smart—it just means he’s not at his best when he’s asked to dwell on a topic.”
Meanwhile, Tony Schwartz, who helped Trump write his bestselling book 'The Art of the Deal' 30 years ago, has said he “has the attention span of a 9-year-old with ADHD.”
In fact, Trump himself has admitted to a lack of prolonged focus in the past but then walked the comment back last year by saying, “...I have an attention span that’s as long as it has to be.”
Since he became president, the trait appears to have changed the way officials approach him with information; in May, Reuters reported that “National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump's name in ‘as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he's mentioned,’ according to one source.”
The same month, as NATO officials were preparing its first summit with Trump in attendance, they reportedly advised other countries to keep their talks limited to a few minutes each.
President Trump is gaining a reputation of having a short attention span, with the Washington Post citing inside sources going so far as to call him “the two-minute man.”
The nickname was revealed while referencing the difficulties national security adviser H.R. McMaster and the rest of the administration have had in resolving the conflict in Afghanistan.
The source added, “The president has patience for a half-page.”
The Post also reports that one of McMaster’s major challenges in identifying a plan for the war-torn country has been getting the president to focus.
President Trump has a tendency to jump from topic to topic during classified briefings, according to the Post. An official at the meetings stated, “We moved very quickly from news to intelligence to policy with very little clarity on which lanes we were in.”
Politico reports that Trump’s short attention span has long been one of his noted characteristics; Michael D’Antonio, who wrote a book about the businessman, has said, “I think he’s definitely got attention deficit disorder...That doesn’t mean he isn’t really smart—it just means he’s not at his best when he’s asked to dwell on a topic.”
Meanwhile, Tony Schwartz, who helped Trump write his bestselling book 'The Art of the Deal' 30 years ago, has said he “has the attention span of a 9-year-old with ADHD.”
In fact, Trump himself has admitted to a lack of prolonged focus in the past but then walked the comment back last year by saying, “...I have an attention span that’s as long as it has to be.”
Since he became president, the trait appears to have changed the way officials approach him with information; in May, Reuters reported that “National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump's name in ‘as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he's mentioned,’ according to one source.”
The same month, as NATO officials were preparing its first summit with Trump in attendance, they reportedly advised other countries to keep their talks limited to a few minutes each.