April 18, 2019

“I’m Fucked”: Trump’s Reaction When He Learned of the Special Counsel Investigation

Donald Trump thought Robert Mueller’s probe would end his presidency.

President Donald Trump speaks to media before boarding Air Force One on March 24, 2019, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Carolyn Kaster/AP

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When President Donald Trump learned that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 elections nearly two years ago, he predicted that the probe would end his presidency. “I’m fucked,” he said.

This account comes from Mueller’s redacted report, released Thursday, under a section providing evidence for one way Trump may have attempted to obstruct justice: trying to remove the special counsel to thwart the investigation.

On May 17, 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions personally broke the news to Trump that Sessions’ deputy, Rod Rosenstein, had appointed a special counsel to take over the investigation into Russian interference in the election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. According to notes from Sessions’ then-chief of staff, Jody Hunt, Trump slumped in his chair and said, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.”

“You were supposed to protect me,” Trump told Sessions, lambasting him for recusing himself from the probe and letting Rosenstein make the appointment.

“Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency,” Trump then said. “It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

Listen to our DC bureau chief David Corn discuss Mueller’s findings on this special breaking news edition of the Mother Jones Podcast:

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

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