Must be something in the water at Bulwark HQ—Bill and Mona ended up on flights of fancy in today’s newsletter, which we trust you’ll enjoy. But we’d be remiss not to mention right up top that the House is back in session today to vote to reopen the government—which means Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva will be seated at last, a cool seven weeks after she was elected. Happy Wednesday.

Reading Trump’s Mind

by William Kristol

You know what I like, late at night here in the White House? I like looking out at where that boring East Wing was. Joe Biden probably loved that place. Jill, too. I snapped my fingers, and it’s gone. Gone! Rubble! Now that’s power.

And we’ve got the great Donald J. Trump Ballroom going up in its place. And we’ll have the Donald J. Trump Triumphal Arch just over the bridge. And the Donald J. Trump Commanders Football Stadium. And Dulles—who the hell was Dulles? Apparently there were two brothers? It doesn’t matter. That will now be the Donald J. Trump International Airport. Now that’s greatness.

And it’s only the beginning.

Those other presidents, sure—they were a big deal. They were famous. They were important. But they tiptoed around. Their people told them they couldn’t do this and they couldn’t do that. That’s the difference with me. I’m in charge. I send the troops into the cities. I blow up the narco boats. I put on tariffs and take them off. I got all the business guys, the creeps who used to look down on me, groveling for favors. I got loyal people all around me who do what I say.

I’m the biggest boss in the whole goddamn world. I’m the most powerful president in our whole goddamn history.

And here’s the thing: I’m not giving it up. No way.

Remember that ad Dick Cheney had in Wyoming before we crushed his daughter in the primary? The one where he said, “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump”? I had Natalie print that out.

Cheney was bad news, but he was a smart guy. What he said was right. Except he didn’t realize it was a compliment. I’m not a threat to the republic. I am the republic. What did that French guy say? ‘L’etat, c’est me?’ The republic is me.

Some of the other presidents before me dreamed of doing it. Nixon sure did. Roy used to say that Nixon came kinda close—but he still believed in some stupid rules. He couldn’t quite get it done. I’m gonna.

During that first term, I didn’t understand then how much I could do. That I could get away with it all. Now I get it.

We tried to make it happen at the end of 2020. But we weren’t organized and didn’t have a plan. This time is different. We are organized. And we got the plan.

It’s amazing people don’t see this. They write these analyses of what I’m doing, and they all miss the point. The point is 2028. The Times—man has that paper gone downhill!—had some big piece over the weekend that the guys showed me. Front page on Saturday: “Unusual Purges of Top Officers In the Military. Hegseth’s Moves Create an Air of Mistrust.”

The piece goes on and on about how “unpredictable” Pete’s being, and how he’s creating “anxiety,” and there are retired generals quoted expressing “concern” about him. It’s all idiotic. It’s not Pete. It’s me. Pete can’t handle a group chat. He’s not making all this happen! I am. And you know what’s never mentioned in the piece? 2028!

It’s like the articles about the huge increase in size of ICE and the DHS recruitment ads. The commentators say, “Those are rough guys they’re recruiting. Maybe even ‘white nationalists.’” No shit. But you know what those guys are going to be? Not just rough guys. Trump guys. My guys.

Just like the generals are going to be my generals. And just like the Department of Justice is going to be—ha, who am I kidding, already is—my Department of Justice. And Mike Johnson is my speaker. And the Fed’s going to be my Fed, so we can goose the economy before the ’28 election. And more and more of the media’s going to be my media (Viktor and I had a good talk about that on Friday). And the trillions I’ll have made from all the crypto bullshit will be my money that I can spend, if I have to, to keep everyone in line and make sure I win.

I’m not giving all this up. I’m staying in this White House. In my White House. You think I’ve done all this remodeling just to move out?

So we’re getting things in place. In 2027, when I start to make clear I’m running again, there’ll be some squeaking and hand-wringing. But I can get everyone on our side on board easily enough. And the Supreme Court, my court, isn’t going to enforce that stupid amendment. And I’ll start talking about FDR’s four terms, and how the country needed that then, and how we need Trump now.

You know, it’s funny, Dad really hated FDR. Dad always called him ‘Franklin D. Rosenfelt’ and said he was really Jewish. Roy Cohn said Dad was wrong about that. I guess he would have known. But FDR is really a big guy in the history books.

Right now, I’ve won and lost and then won again. I’m like that guy Grover Cleveland. Who the hell remembers him? They named some crummy city after him. I don’t want to be like Grover Cleveland. I want to be like FDR.

Actually, you know what? I’m gonna go beyond FDR. I’m gonna go past them all. Dad used to say to me: “You’re a king.” I’m getting there. Dad wasn’t a big reader, but he liked this line from Shakespeare. “All the world’s a stage, and you gotta be the biggest guy on it.”

That’s me.