Timothy L. O'Brien, Columnist

Trump Doesn't Have a Best-and-Brightest Problem

Even before he was president, Trump was never good at attracting talent. Now that's coming back to haunt him.

March 6, 2018 at 2:55 PM UTC

Timothy L. O'Brien is senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion. A former editor and reporter for the New York Times, he is author of “TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald.”

Talent gap.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

Way back in 2015, shortly after Donald Trump announced his presidential run and the country began to learn what New Yorkers had always known about him, he reassured folks that he was a talent magnet.

"I'm going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people," he boasted to the Washington Post back then. "We want top-of-the line professionals."