Trump returned to printing money. “We’ll just borrow,” he said, enamored with the idea of heading the federal government, which had the best credit rating in the world, so they could borrow at the lowest interest rate.
Cohn didn’t mention a report that had come out during the campaign which said the Trump Organization’s business credit score was a 19 out of 100, below the national average by 30 points, and that it could have difficulty borrowing money.
You just can’t print money, Cohn said.
“Why not? Why not?”
Congress had a debt ceiling which set a cap on how much money the federal government could borrow, and it was legally binding. It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked.
Inflation would probably be steady. Automation was coming, Cohn said—artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics. We’ll manage the labor supply more efficiently now than we ever did in the history of mankind. So look, you’re in the most precarious time in terms of job losses. We now can create labor with machines.
“If you’re here eight years, you’re going to deal with the automation of the automobile and truck. About 25 percent of the U.S. population makes a living driving something. Think about that.”
“What are you talking about?” Trump asked.
With the self-driving, autonomous vehicle, millions of people are going to have to reenter the workforce in different jobs. That would be a big change and possible large disruption.
“I want you to come to work for me,” Trump said.
“Doing what?”
Trump mentioned deputy secretary of defense.
“First of all, I don’t want to be deputy secretary of anything,” Cohn said.
How about director of national intelligence?
Cohn indicated no. He was not sure what the job did. He later learned it entailed overseeing the CIA and all the other intelligence agencies.
“You trade commodities,” Trump said. “Why don’t you think about being secretary of energy?”
No interest.
Trump tried to convince Cohn to become director of the Office of Management and Budget.
No. Cohn knew it was a horrible job.
“You know what?” Trump said at the end of what had become an hour-long meeting. “I hired the wrong guy for treasury secretary. You should be treasury secretary. You would be the best treasury secretary.”
Mnuchin, right there, didn’t say a thing or show any reaction.
“Come back and tell me what you want,” Trump said. “You’d be great to have on the team. It’d be fantastic.”
Five minutes later while Cohn was still in the building, he saw a television flash breaking news: President-elect Trump has selected Steve Mnuchin as treasury secretary.
“That’s crazy,” Jared said. “Mnuchin just put that out. You freaked him out so badly in the meeting.”
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Cohn did some homework, and spoke with other former Goldman executives who had worked in government. Robert Rubin, who had been head of the White House National Economic Council (NEC) for Clinton and later secretary of the treasury, said that if Cohn could get the director of the National Economic Council job with a pledge he would be the chief economic czar, then he should take it. Being there in the West Wing was an enormous advantage if he had an agreement with the president.
Cohn’s wife, Lisa, said he should do it because he owed the country a great deal. “You’re too slow, you’re too fat and too old to serve your country any other way.”
Cohn returned to see Trump and expressed his interest in the NEC job, as long as any economic business ran through him. It was the equivalent portfolio in economic matters to the national security adviser in foreign policy.
“Of course,” Trump said, “it’ll be however you want it to run. We’re going to do such great things.”
Priebus, who was in the meeting, worried about the on-the-spot hires. He later said to Trump, “We’re going to hire the guy, a Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton, to run our economic council? Why? Shouldn’t we talk about this? I’m sure he’s really smart. Shouldn’t we have a conversation before we offer a job like this?”
“Oh,” Trump said, “we don’t need to talk about it.” Besides, the job had been offered and accepted. “He’s going to be great.”
* * *
The day after Christmas 2016 I reached Michael Flynn, Trump’s newly designated national security adviser, by telephone. He was on vacation in Florida visiting his grandchildren. Flynn, a controversial retired three-star general and intelligence specialist, had been by Trump’s side during the campaign as foreign policy adviser. At the Republican National Convention, he enthusiastically led the crowds in “Lock Her Up” chants about Hillary Clinton. He later apologized.
Obama had removed Flynn from head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 for management failures. And after the campaign Trump had ignored advice from Obama not to take Flynn as his national security adviser.
I called Flynn to get his take on Russia. Several intelligence and Pentagon officials had told me that Russia had moved in recent years to modernize and improve their nuclear capability with a new Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile and two new ICBMs.
“Yes, exactly,” Flynn said on the record. Under Putin’s direction in the last seven or eight years, he said, Russia had not “outmatched the United States but had outsmarted us.”
He said he had begun talking to Trump about the Russian buildup 18 months before in 2015 when they had first met. He said that they agreed that the United States had given up too much of its capability, training, readiness and modernization.
Putin, he said, had “in a systematic way” upgraded not only his nuclear forces but his tactical, conventional and Special Forces. “If Russia became an adversary and we went toe-to-toe with them, we’d face the reality of Putin using innovation, technology and sheer effort.”
Flynn then spoke openly about the possibility the United States might have to begin testing nuclear weapons. The last U.S. test had been in 1992. “We are going to have to decide if we test again,” he said. The computer tests might not be sufficient and it was important to see if the weapons worked.
“My counsel to the boss, I said we are going to have to devote time, energy and resources to this.” He said Trump’s plan was to talk and act tough—send “a shot across the bow” of Putin. He added, “We will be leaning on the Reagan playbook.” Be aggressive and then negotiate. “We have to make it clear at the same time that we’ll deal with Russia. You can’t just have one view of Russia.”
Flynn was being widely criticized for going to Russia to speak for $33,750 from the Russian state–owned television network in 2015. He said it was an opportunity and he got to meet Putin. “Anyone would go,” he said.
Flynn did a question-and-answer session in Moscow. He made a standard plea for better U.S. relations to defeat ISIS, the importance of defining the enemy, and not trying just to contain ISIS as Obama had done. Overall on foreign policy Flynn told me, “The president-elect is taking on this plate of shit throughout the world. The world is a mess. There’s lots of cleaning up to do.”
CHAPTER
8
After the election, President Obama directed his intelligence chiefs to produce a definitive, highly classified report on Russian election interference, with all the sources and details. It would be briefed to the Gang of Eight in Congress and to President-elect Trump.
An unclassified, scaled-back version with the same conclusions, but without identifying the sources, would be made public before Obama left office on January 20.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers met to work on talking points for the briefing to Trump. They knew he would see the report as challenging his win, casting doubt on the legitimacy of his election. They agreed they would have to speak with one voice.
“This is our story and we’re sticking to it,” Clapper said, encouraging solidarity. Clapper would be the main briefer. It was essential they speak with confidence. Clearly the briefing was going to stir the beast.
* * *