With just days remaining in his term, Donald Trump is running out of friends. His White House is a “ghost town“; officials are fleeing his cabinet; and Republican support for his impeachment was much higher than he would’ve liked.
When Bill Belichick didn’t even want to be around Trump, it had to sting.
But at least he still has Rudy Giuliani by his side, right? Well, not necessarily. The Washington Post reported overnight that their relationship is “fracturing.”
Trump has instructed aides not to pay Giuliani’s legal fees, two officials said, and has demanded that he personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred while traveling on the president’s behalf to challenge election results in key states. They said Trump has privately expressed concern with some of Giuliani’s moves and did not appreciate a demand from Giuliani for $20,000 a day in fees for his work attempting to overturn the election.
The New York Times had a related report, noting that the Trump-Giuliani relationship has “frayed” of late. The article added, “The president was offended by Mr. Giuliani’s request for $20,000 a day to represent him in the election fight, which Mr. Giuliani denied making but which was in writing, and told aides not to pay him at all.”
The Times also cited one insider who said White House officials have “started blocking Mr. Giuliani’s calls to the president.”
Part of what makes this notable is that Giuliani has not exactly earned his $20,000-a-day income. After partnering with an active Russian agent, the former New York City mayor has spent the last several months engaging in truly ridiculous antics, including losing an almost comical number of lawsuits, showing up at the Four Seasons landscaping parking lot, hosting a crackpot press conference while strange dye ran down his face, giving absurd testimony at fake hearings, and filling Trump’s head with even more conspiracy theories than usual. Last week, Giuliani also appeared at a pre-riot rally in which he talked up the idea of “trial by combat” to a group of riled up radicals — only to keep his anti-election efforts going after the attack on the U.S. Capitol subsided. Trump has “privately expressed concern with some of Giuliani’s moves”? Well, yes, I should hope so. Finally, there’s the “Deadbeat Donald” matter: Trump has spent years hiring people to do jobs, only to decide later than he doesn’t want to pay them. If he decides to stop paying Giuliani’s legal fees, the former mayor can at least take comfort in the fact that he’s not alone.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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