Perhaps the most significant concession by Mueller was his decision not to try to force the president to testify. Trump claimed publicly that he would be happy to talk and John Dowd was initially supportive of that. At one point, they even agreed on a date for an interview at Camp David and began organizing logistics. But Dowd changed his mind, concluding that Mueller was laying a perjury trap for a president incapable of telling the truth. Camp David was canceled. But Trump continued to flirt with an interview, perpetually confident that he could talk his way out of anything.
