While President Donald Trump praises and simultaneously distances himself from Paul Manafort in public, he’s privately bragging to advisers that the trial proves special counsel Robert Mueller has reached a dead end on the Russia probe and has nothing on his family.
According to Republicans close to Trump who spoke with Vanity Fair, the Manafort trial is “spinning [Trump] into a frenzy” as he gloats that “the only thing the trial shows is that Manafort is a sleaze.”
In his mania, Trump is also feeling more free to attack Mueller on Twitter and has reportedly been empowered by his attorney Emmet Flood to be more free-wheeling in his tweets about the investigation.
“Emmet feels there’s nothing there with collusion, so it’s fine for Trump to comment and tweet,” a source told Vanity Fair.
Trump is reportedly at his wits end with the probe, and wants it over in a couple of weeks. He’s told advisers that he will fire Rosenstein himself if it continues.
Read the full Vanity Fair report here.
