00:00Today on Forbes, to understand how Trump is upending Washington, speak to people from his past.
00:07Donald Trump held court in the Oval Office last week, with exactly the kind of crowd he loves.
00:13The world's richest man at his side, a gaggle of journalists at his foot.
00:18Teeing up a speech from Elon Musk, the president promised to share some shocking discoveries.
00:23He said, quote,
00:25Billions and billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse. I think it's very important.
00:29And that's one of the reasons I got elected. I said we were going to do that.
00:33Nobody had any idea it was that bad, that sick and that corrupt.
00:38In fact, inspectors general, independent watchdogs throughout the government,
00:42have been working for years with the explicit mission of rooting out, quote,
00:46waste, fraud and abuse.
00:48Trump fired a group of them en masse on the evening of January 24th,
00:52kicking off his first weekend back in power with a purge.
00:55The fallout from those dismissals became apparent in the Oval Office last week.
01:00Their jobs are now Musk's job.
01:03Members of Washington's oversight community,
01:05the people who fret about how the government does its business,
01:08have been in a state of bewilderment ever since Trump returned to the White House.
01:12The president storms ahead, appointing loyalists,
01:15wiping out regulations and unilaterally pausing the enforcement of certain laws,
01:20such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,
01:22which bans Americans from paying bribes overseas.
01:25Trump seems unconcerned that Musk wields enormous power
01:29with limited visibility into potential conflicts of interest,
01:32something the Office of Government Ethics generally ensures.
01:35The president fired its director, too.
01:38Richard Painter, who served as George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer, scoffs, quote,
01:44Sort of in-your-face F.U. to ethics.
01:47But nothing about the way Trump has barged back into the White House
01:50surprises those who have known him for decades.
01:53Andrew Weiss, who worked inside the Trump Organization from 1981 to 2017,
01:58laughs and says, quote,
02:13Trump has long been a man of contradictions,
02:16making it difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes him tick.
02:19He is both charming and abrasive, fast to forge connections and quick to cut them,
02:24certain to hold grudges and willing to forgive.
02:27Amid the contradictions, however, lie consistencies,
02:30including his process for exerting control over those around him.
02:34Alan Marcus, who entered Trump's orbit about 30 years ago, says, quote,
02:44He's an impresario.
02:45He should have been the head waiter at the Copacabana, you know.
02:48And he makes you feel good.
02:51And special, even though he uses the same moves on everyone.
02:55This stage of Trump's relationship building
02:57has been on full display over the last few months,
02:59as the president-elect hosted politicians, business tycoons,
03:03and foreign leaders to his private club in Palm Beach,
03:06while naming the lineup of people joining him in Washington,
03:09pouring out praise with the announcements.
03:11Perhaps no one has received quite as much adulation, or access, as Elon Musk.
03:16Marcus says, quote,
03:21And Marcus adds it goes both ways.
03:23He says, quote,
03:34Over time, however, the displays of affection can morph into displays of power.
03:39And Trump sometimes conveys his message of power more bluntly.
03:43Barbara Ress, a former Trump Organization executive, says, quote,
03:50Trump especially likes to apply pressure to people who won't cave to his charm.
03:54Critics often mistake the president as someone who disdains expertise.
03:57In fact, he latches onto expertise when it is ultimately subservient to him.
04:02He has hired sharp, qualified people to work for him throughout his life,
04:05including in the White House.
04:07What he doesn't like are people who are confident enough in their carefully formed views
04:11that they're unwilling to bow to his sometimes uninformed impulses.
04:16For full coverage, check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com.
04:22This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.
04:37.
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