Sidney Blumenthal: “A week after the inauguration, Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Origins of Totalitarianism were number one and number 36 respectively on the US Amazon bestseller list, but the true-life Donald J. Trump story has more to do with what Scott Fitzgerald called ‘foul dust’ than with ideas or ideology. Reckoning with Trump means descending into the place that made him.”

“What he represents, above all, is the triumph of an underworld of predators, hustlers, mobsters, clubhouse politicians and tabloid sleaze that festered in a corner of New York City, a vindication of his mentor, the Mafia lawyer Roy Cohn, a figure unknown to the vast majority of enthusiasts who jammed Trump’s rallies and hailed him as the authentic voice of the people.”

“You’ve never seen so much paper on a President’s desk. That’s because we’re negotiating lots of deals for our country, which will be tremendous.”

— President Trump, in remarks at the White House while meeting with business leaders.

Politico: “The White House has gone without a full-time communications director since Trump was sworn in last month, and although chief of staff Reince Priebus is spearheading a robust effort to fill the position, his overtures to several Republican communications professionals have been met with disinterest, according to a half-dozen sources with knowledge of the situation. At least two candidates have turned down the job, a position normally coveted by Washington political operatives.”

“Trump’s unusual involvement in crafting his own message — and his insistence on doing so from his perch in the West Wing — poses a challenge for any aide whose responsibility it would be to shape the narrative arc of his administration.”

President Trump “attacked the military record of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), suggesting that the Connecticut lawmaker misrepresented his conversation with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch as he did with his service in the Marine Corps Reserves,” Politico reports.

Gorsuch reportedly told Blumenthal that he was “demoralized” and “disheartened”  by Trump’s attacks on the military. A Gorsuch spokesman confirmed the comments were made.