Why Trump Can’t Help Himself

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

This Sean Hannity clip is getting huge play today. (You can see it below the fold.) Hannity tells Trump during their interview, I can’t imagine you’d ever say bring me those documents we took from the White House. Trump responds no I can totally do that, I would do that. Hannity says, okay let’s move on, but Trump persists. It’s Hannity at his journalist-as-defense counsel best.

Anti-Trump types delight in these videos, and for good reason. It’s nice seeing someone admit their crimes on national television. But it’s not just impulsivity or not staying on message.

This captures a more basic contradiction. When you’re trying to beat a criminal charge you need to persuasively argue you didn’t do it. But Trump’s brand is heavily bound up on the proposition that he can do anything. And he can only fully demonstrate that by demonstrating that.

Latest Editors' Blog
  • |
    April 27, 2025 12:56 p.m.

    New ABC/WaPo poll shows a similar story to AP-NORC poll: Trump dipping below 40% approval for the first time in…

  • |
    April 26, 2025 6:12 p.m.

    I said yesterday that I thought we likely weren’t far away from the first national poll which showed Donald Trump’s…

  • |
    April 24, 2025 9:35 p.m.

    Government Executive: “The Veterans Affairs Department is requiring all employees working on its plans to slash tens of thousands of…

  • |
    April 24, 2025 9:22 p.m.

    Question: I’m looking for examples of medical schools which may just have received a letter from the Justice Department demanding…

Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor-at-Large:
Contributing Editor:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher & Digital Producer:
Senior Developer:
Senior Designer: