I’m by now sure we’ve all read the infamous anti-Trump op-ed that has rocked the world and Trump administration: I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration. The question on everyone’s mind is, who wrote it. Not surprisingly, leads have come up short. The major problem is no one really knows what constitutes a ‘senior Trump official.’ It could be someone in a high position that is frequently in the headlines, or someone we’ve likely never heard of. It’s possible there are a hundred or more senior staff. I’m leaning towards the second option, because all major officials have denied it. Linguistic analysis may be of use, but we need more writing samples, and even if there seems to be a match, it is by no means proof of authorship.
A few things stand out:
On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.
Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.
These passages suggest the author is involved in foreign policy, as opposed to domestic policy. This rules out economists. This also suggests also that the author is older and seems to have a ‘cold war mindset’ and likely began his professional work in the 80’s, when Russia was a bigger threat than it is now.
We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.
This suggests he’s likely a neocon or has neocon sympathies.
The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.
The use of the expression ‘West Wing’ again suggest someone who is probably in his 60’s or older.
There are only a handful of people who know who wrote it, “James Bennet, the editorial page editor; Jim Dao, the op-ed editor; and publisher A.G. Sulzberger.” This puts the New York Times in an especially bad position because the op-ed editor is sitting on a nugget information that is likely worth millions and is liable to being extorted or bribed. The New York Times may have to pay him hush money to the tune of millions of dollars so he does not have a lapse of judgement and leak the info for his own personal gain. I imagine if he were in a financial bind, the temptation to do so would be great. In theory, an billionaire could anonymously set up a huge bounty, possibly $100 million or more, to be paid out in crypto currency for the info. Making matters wore, if the author confesses or or if the author is revealed though investigative analysis, then obviously no payday, so this lottery ticket of info likely has an expiration date. The good news for Trump is that this op ed will not hurt his popularity or reelection hopes. The so-called ‘resistance’ are the same people who never supported Trump in the first place. Their approval is not needed for Trump to persevere.