Fear: Trump in the White House(36)

“What would you do?” the president asked.

It had to be the second option, Graham said. You can’t let them have that capability. Number one is too risky.

The president leaned toward McMaster. “What do you think?”

“I think he’s right,” the national security adviser said.

“If it gets to be a mature threat,” Graham said, “don’t let us [Congress] just sit on the sidelines and bitch and moan. If you had the evidence, the day that they come in and tell you that, you call the congressional leadership up and say, I may have to use force here. Let me tell you why I want your backing for authorization to use force against North Korea. If we had a vote that was decisive and you had that authority in your back pocket, it may prevent you from having to use it.”

“That’d be very provocative,” Priebus said.

“It’s meant to be provocative,” Graham replied. “You only do that as a last resort.”

“That will get everyone worried and excited,” Priebus said.

“I don’t give a shit who I make nervous,” Trump said.

“You don’t want it on your résumé that North Korea, a nuclear power, got a missile that could reach the United States on your watch,” Graham said.

Trump said he had been thinking about that.

“If they have a breakout,” Graham said, “and have a missile that will reach the United States, you’ve got to whack them. If you get congressional authorization, you’ve got something in your back pocket.” It would be an intermediate step and would give Trump leverage.

“They think if they get a missile with a nuclear weapon on top, they’re home free. You’ve got to convince them if they try to get a missile with a weapon on top, that’s the end of them.”

McMaster said that the intelligence on North Korea was incomplete.

“Call me before you shoot,” Graham told them.



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Graham urged as much bipartisanship as possible. Bring in the Democrats. He wanted to provide a roadmap to Trump for dealing with Congress. “Mr. President, you’ve got to buy some Democrats,” Graham said. “The good news is they come cheap.” He said that Trump needed to get to know key Republicans and Democrats. “Use your deal-making past and skills. You’ve got to put something on the table for these people. Look, I’ve been doing this with Republicans and Democrats for 10 years.”

Would there be disagreements? Yes, he said. Good friends disagree all the time. “Washington is always about the next thing. After something doesn’t work out, you’ve got to move on.”

The president had to knock off the tweeting. The week prior, on March 4, he had sent out four tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower.

“You got an upper cut to the jaw, delivered by you,” Graham said of the widespread negative reaction to the tweets. “They’re out to get you. Don’t help them.”

“Tweeting,” the president said, “that’s the way I operate.”

“It’s okay to tweet to your advantage, Mr. President. Don’t tweet to your disadvantage. They’re always trying to drag you into their swamp. You’ve got to have the discipline not to take the bait.”



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Trump phoned Graham the next day to thank him for the discussion.

“Invite John McCain and his wife, Cindy, to dinner,” Graham said. “John is a good guy. You guys need to get along, and he can help you on lots of things.”

In 2015, Trump had made one of his most cruel and thoughtless comments about McCain. “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

Graham knew McCain hated Trump. He knew that in Washington, you had to deal with people who hated you. But he did not impart that particular piece of advice to the president.

“My chief job is to keep John McCain calm,” Graham remarked. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was “scared to death of John McCain. Because John knows no boundaries. He’ll pop our leadership as much as he’ll pop their leadership. And I will, at times, but mine’s more calculated. John’s just purely John. He’s just the world’s nicest man. And a media whore like me. Anyway, he’s a much nicer guy than I am.”

The dinner with McCain and Cindy was arranged for April. Graham also attended. Cindy McCain had dedicated her life to fighting human trafficking, and Graham suggested that Trump make her his ambassador for that cause.

At the dinner in the Blue Room, Trump pulled out a letter. He read it to Cindy McCain line-by-line, drawing it out.

I would very much like you to be my ambassador at large for human trafficking, he read, noting that she had devoted her life to human rights causes.

“I’d be honored,” she said, and teared up.

McCain was visibly touched. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he also thanked the president for promising to rebuild the military.

What do you want us to do to help you? McCain asked.

“I just want to get to know you,” Trump said, laying it on very thick. “I admire you. You’re a very tough man. You’re a good man.”

It was as close as he might get to, I’m sorry.

McCain again seemed touched. “It’s a tough world out there,” he said. “We want to help you.”