Reagan Consulted a Brain Trust. Trump Consults Himself.
Ronald Reagan, the former movie actor who symbolizes the affinity between show business and electronic-era politics, is surrounding himself with a star-studded supporting cast.
Already performing like the 1980 Republican presidential nominee -- perhaps with good reason in view of his comfortable lead over struggling rivals -- Reagan has cultivated an advisory "brain trust" composed of many of many of the most prominent figures in economics, domestic policy matters and national security affairs.
Included are representatives of the defense and intelligence community, such as Frank R. Barnett. president of the National Strategy Information Center, Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham, co-chairman of the Coalition for Peace Through Strength and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; and Adrn. Thomas H. Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
From academe come Nathan Glazer of Harvard University., Jeane J. Kirkpatrick of Georgetown University and Eugene V. Rostow, a Yale University law professor.
Eliza Collins reports at Politico:
Donald Trump finally shared the name of someone he consults on foreign policy: himself.
"I know what I’m doing and I listen to a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people and at the appropriate time I’ll tell you who the people are," Trump said. “But my primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff."
Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” who he talks with consistently about foreign policy, Trump responded, “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things."
