A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

by Philip Rucker

Trump seethed in particular over McGahn’s extensive cooperation with Mueller, which was clear given his ubiquity in the report’s sourcing. Giuliani attacked McGahn in a series of media interviews and argued that the White House counsel should have resigned if he thought what Trump was doing violated the law. Other Trump advisers said they believed McGahn was being singled out unfairly by some in Trump’s orbit because of his past tensions with key figures, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. One of these advisers told Robert Costa of The Washington Post, “If anything, Don saved this presidency from the president. If Don had actually gone through with what the president wanted, you would have had a constitutional crisis. The president’s ego is hurt, but he’s still here.”