The New York Times spoke to Trump's aides and sitting senators about his increasingly unhinged behavior and that apparently includes a renewed focus on President Obama's birth certificate.
People close to Trump say he rambles about conspiracy theories in private and that also includes Hillary Clinton's popular vote total.
In recent months, they say, Mr. Trump has used closed-door conversations to question the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. He has also repeatedly claimed that he lost the popular vote last year because of widespread voter fraud, according to advisers and lawmakers.
One senator who listened as the president revived his doubts about Mr. Obama’s birth certificate chuckled on Tuesday as he recalled the conversation. The president, he said, has had a hard time letting go of his claim that Mr. Obama was not born in the United States. The senator asked not to be named to discuss private conversations.
Mr. Trump’s journeys into the realm of manufactured facts have been frequent enough that his own staff has sought to nudge friendly lawmakers to ask questions of Mr. Trump in meetings that will steer him toward safer terrain.
Virtually everyone close to Trump knows he's insane and moronic, but they do nothing about it.
Why not?
I suppose it benefits them. Republican congressmen need Trump to sign their tax cuts. Trump's aides want to keep their taxpayer-funded jobs and the luxury of traveling with him. Others in the regime want to fleece the public as much as they can before moving on to the private sector for even more money. Dumping Trump would mean all of them go.
I think this extends far beyond people who are actually serving in Trump's regime. Far right extremists groups, fire and brimstone pastors, and television cranks know Trump is an idiot, but from his position he is breathing new life and legitimacy into their operations.
It's an open question if Trump even realizes that virtually everyone, including people on his side, think he's a tool. Maybe he does realize it and that's why he's always pissed off.