Beginning on the night of the 2020 election and continuing until his last days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers plundered the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left of his term. Axios takes you into the collapse of a president with a special series.
Episode 4: Trump sets fire to what is arguably the most important relationship in his office.
Attorney General Bill Barr was behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, hovering over Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was December 1, almost a month after the election, and Barr had some cutting-edge advice to challenge. The president’s theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were “bullshit”.
White House lawyer Pat Cipollone and a few other aides in attendance were shocked that Barr came and said so – although they knew it was true. To be sure, the attorney general warned that the new legal team on which Trump was betting his future was “bullshit”.
Trump dragged Barr angrily to explain himself after seeing a last-minute AP story across Twitter, with the headline: “Disputing Trump, Barr says there is no widespread electoral fraud.” But Barr was not backing down. Three weeks later, he would have left.
The relationship between the president and his attorney general was arguably the most important in the Trump Office. And in the six months leading up to that meeting, the relationship between the two men quietly disintegrated. No one was more loyal than Bill Barr. But for Trump, it was never enough.
The president was very manic even to its most loyal allies, listening more and more to conspiracy theorists who echoed their own opinions and offered an illusion, an alternative reality.
In the late summer of 2020, Trump and Barr were regularly struggling to figure out how to deal with the growing Black Lives Matter protests sparked by George Floyd’s death while in police custody. As the national movement unfolded, some protests gave way to violence and looting. Trump wanted the U.S. government to crack down hard on the disturbances.
The president wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act and send military personnel to American cities. He wanted troops on the street. Some outside allies, including Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, were urging him. The thankless job of pushing fell on Barr.
Sometimes Barr was the heat shield between the president and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, and the secretary of defense, Mark Esper, both of whom vehemently opposed Trump’s fantasies about American troops descending on Portland.
The president regularly convened a group of national security leaders for the Oval Office, and a meeting in mid-August was particularly volatile.
From his seat behind the Resolute Desk, an agitated Trump told Barr to go and do something, and to do that right away – make an announcement, send troops, something. Just come in and solve, ordered the president. He wanted a display of devastating and provocative strength.
Barr disagreed. He thought that the heat in the protests was gradually easing. He explained the law enforcement strategy and his view that military intervention would backfire. Federal investigators were already hunting down protest leaders.
Also, Barr asked, what was the end of the game to add the military to the mix? Federal forces can be trapped in a city like Portland indefinitely.
Trump was getting more and more frustrated, but Barr pushed harder, standing firm in front of everyone in the room. He was ready, willing and able to be strong, he said. But, he added, we also have to be considerate.
What these soldiers would do, Barr pointed out. Stand still and yell at him? Trump didn’t care. We look weak and it is hurting us, he said. Then he tapped the Resolute Table with his hand.
“Nobody supports me,” shouted Trump. “Nobody fucking supports me.”
Trump got up and stormed out of the Oval Office to his private dining room, leaving Barr and the others behind. Barr looked at a red-faced White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and joked, “Well, it went well.”
Constant head banging about how aggressive they should be was a serious irritant in the relationship. Trump wanted displays of shock and admiration on television, especially in Portland and Seattle.
Barr was not a pacifist, but he thought Trump’s ideas were more aggressive than necessary. They fought all summer, and Barr later compared the experience in particular to “Groundhog Day”. It was always Groundhog Day trying to explain things to Trump.
Trump was ricocheting between the boards of seasoned advisers like Barr and Cipollone and the growing circle of outside instigators like Fitton, who were gaining more and more influence.
Publicly, Barr praised Trump. In particular, his head hurt. In September, Barr was doing everything he could to avoid the president. There was little direct contact between the two men, and Barr stopped visiting Trump at the White House.
He was tired of Trump making public statements and having others do so to increase pressure against U.S. Attorney John Durham to open more cases or to publish a report on Russia’s investigation before the election.
In mid-October, while Rudy Giuliani tried to disclose the alleged content of Hunter Biden’s hard drive, Trump’s allies began to pressure Barr to appoint a special lawyer to investigate his opponent’s son. Without Trump’s knowledge, the Justice Department was already investigating Hunter Biden. But Barr, according to the department’s policy, kept the investigation a secret.
Barr maneuvered to deal mainly with Meadows and Cipollone. Those around the two men realized that Barr was irritated and frustrated by the president’s constant insistence.
Avoiding Trump just got easier as the campaign heated up. The president spent more time on the trail and less time cooking in the Oval Office.
But Barr’s truce ended after election day, when Trump joined a series of conspiracy theorists to expand absurd theories of electoral interference, arguing that Biden and the Chinese Communist Party, among others, had stolen his election.
On November 29, Trump told Fox News that Barr’s Justice Department was “missing in action”. Barr was furious. In fact, the attorney general dismissed the department’s precedent to accelerate federal investigations into allegations of electoral fraud. The Justice Department was not lacking in action – there was simply no evidence of major fraud.
Barr gave an interview to AP reporter Michael Balsamo, making that very clear. That would take things to the surface.
As Barr headed to the White House for meetings on December 1, he knew that Balsamo’s story could go live while he was there. He soon found himself in the president’s private dining room, along with Meadows, Cipollone, Trump and others. They sat at a long table under a shiny chandelier, amidst Trump paraphernalia that was framed by floor-to-ceiling windows.
Trump was positioned in his usual seat at the head of the table, facing a huge flat-screen TV with low sound. On the screen, the One America News network, steeped in conspiracy, was showing a Michigan Senate hearing on electoral fraud.
Trump had seen Balsamo’s story and was furious. “Why would you say such a thing? You must hate Trump. There is no other reason for that. You must hate Trump,” accused the president, speaking about himself in the third person.
“These things are not working,” Barr told the president, next to his chief of staff Will Levi. “The things that these people are filling their ears are just not true.” Barr explained that if Trump wanted to challenge the election results, the president’s internal campaign lawyers would have to do so.
The Justice Department, he continued, examined the main allegations of fraud that Trump’s lawyers made. “It’s just bullshit,” Barr told the president. Cipollone supported Barr saying the DOJ was investigating these allegations.
Trump pointed at the TV and asked if Barr had been watching the audience. Barr said no. “Maybe you should,” said the president. Barr reiterated that the Justice Department was not ignoring the allegations, but that Trump’s outside lawyers were doing a terrible job.
“I am a very informed legal observer and I cannot find out what the theory is here,” he added. “It’s just a dispersion. It’s all over the hill and it’s gone.”
“Maybe,” said Trump. “Perhaps.”
A week later, the New York Times reported that Barr was considering resigning. Barr’s relationship with the president was becoming untenable, and the president listened to Sidney Powell and Giuliani, instead of his attorney and attorney general at the White House.
Barr decided to give up before their private skirmishes became even more visible to the public. Some speculated that he had given up because of the president’s increasingly questionable pardons. But it had nothing to do with it. Barr had made it clear to Cipollone that he did not want to be consulted on these post-election pardons. He didn’t need to hear about them until he received official notices. The only forgiveness he made an effort to stop preventively was for Edward Snowden.
On December 14, Trump and Barr met in the Oval Office. Others were there with Trump when the attorney general arrived. Barr asked for the room to be cleaned so they could speak privately. He described his reasons for leaving early, explaining that although they had a good relationship, they now disagreed on important issues.
They did not need a public explosion. It was time to leave while the match could still be friendly. Barr later told associates that the meeting was calm and rational and that he had written his letter of resignation – which effusively praised the president for his political achievements – the day before.
Trump appreciated Barr’s loyalty and praise. But praise and loyalty were not enough.
About electoral fraud, Barr told Trump what he didn’t want to hear and the president stopped listening. It was time for Barr to leave.
🎧 Listen to Jonathan Swan in Axios’ new investigative podcast series, called “How it Happened: Trump’s last stand.”
Read the rest of the “Off the Rails” episodes here.
About this series: Our report is based on several interviews with current and past White House officials, government and Congress officials, as well as direct eyewitnesses and people close to the president. The sources were granted anonymity to share sensitive observations or details that they would not be formally authorized to disclose. President Trump and other officials to whom quotes and actions have been attributed by others have had the opportunity to confirm, deny or respond to elements of the report prior to publication.
“Off the rails” is reported by White House reporter Jonathan Swan, with assistance for reporting and research by Zach Basu. It was edited by Margaret Talev and Mike Allen. Illustrations by Sarah Grillo, Aïda Amer and Eniola Odetunde.