‘Just Tell Him He’s Brilliant’: Gary Cohn Faked Bad Connection So He Could Hang Up On Trump

Donald Trump’s advisors love talking to him about the important issues.

It’s like how Rex Tillerson really – really – enjoyed the discussion he had with Trump back in July about the relative merits of increasing America’s nuclear arsenal tenfold. Sure, Tillerson called Trump a “fucking moron” when the meeting broke up, but that shouldn’t be taken at face value. “Fucking moron” is actually a euphemism Rex often employs to mean “pure genius.”

But again, it’s not just Tillerson. All of Trump’s advisors relish the opportunity to consult with the President regardless of what’s being discussed. As Trump famously put it on Morning Joe before he was elected, he “has a good brain” which is why he “consults with himself” first and only asks for advice when his very “good brain” has had its say.

One person who values Trump’s input perhaps more than anyone else is former Goldmanite and man who wishes he had never left 200 West, Gary Cohn, seen here on the left beaming with pride during Trump’s slapdash Thomas Jefferson press conference back in August:

Well according to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, Cohn was so excited to discuss tax reform with Trump while the President was traveling in Asia that he literally faked a bad connection so he could hang up on him. Here’s how this supposedly unfolded:

.@SenatorCarper just told us he asked WH Econ advisor Gary Cohn to fake a bad connection w/ @potus calling in from Asia on tax reform w/ Dems & hang up, and Cohn did. Seriously. Watch: https://t.co/9uW4qaCh0x @JohnBerman

— Poppy Harlow (@PoppyHarlowCNN) November 22, 2017

And here’s the transcript:

.@JohnBerman: "Are you saying Gary Cohn faked a bad connection to get the president off the phone?"@SenatorCarper: "Well, I wouldn't — I don't want to throw him under the bus, but yes." (@CNNnewsroom) pic.twitter.com/OjAJkrQD3I

— David Wright (@DavidWright_7) November 22, 2017

Needless to say, the White House is furious. “Sen. Tom Carper’s claim that National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn faked a bad connection to hang up on President Trump is completely false,” White House Principal Deputy Press Sec. Raj Shah said Wednesday afternoon in statement, before contending that “Gary took the phone off speaker and continued to speak with the President privately for several minutes before they concluded the call.”

Ok, Raj – nobody is buying that, but thanks. Here’s a bit of background information on this as it appeared first in The Hill earlier this month:

A key Democratic senator who attended Tuesday’s meeting on tax reform with Trump administration officials recounted to The Hill trying to get off the phone with President Trump.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and White House legislative affairs director Marc Short came ready to listen; the president – who joined by phone – less so.

Trump “was ready to talk and talk and finally … after 15 minutes,” Carper said he turned to Cohn to tell him, “We’re not going to have a real conversation here – can’t you just tell the president that he is brilliant and say we’re losing … the connection and then hang up?”

Carper and a handful of other Democrats met with Cohn and Short on Tuesday to discuss possible bipartisan agreement on tax reform.

“Gary Cohn and Marc Short were in a ‘receive’ mode, which is good,” the veteran senator said. “What I told them at the end of the meeting: I think maybe what has to happen for us to have a true bipartisan effort … the Republican effort in the House and the Senate to do this on their own, that has to prove to be unsuccessful. When it is, we will engage in a bipartisan way,” Carper recalled.