Trump biographer says he is desperate to be taken seriously — and failing

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One en route from Scotland, Britain, to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., July 29, 2025. REUTERS Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump is desperate to be seen as a "serious" leader, but according to his one-time biographer, his latest effort to do so failed miserably.

Trump this week made a rare visit to Camp David, the Northern Maryland wilderness retreat operated by the Navy and often used by sitting presidents for getaways and important private meetings. According to The Daily Beast, Trump was accompanied on the trip by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, among others.

Rather than dig into the major issues surrounding the war engulfing the presidency, Trump reportedly used the meeting as "a venting session for Trump to air his frustrations to a room of his sycophants," putting a particular focus on the troubles delaying his "slush fund" and the possibility of Democrats winning the midterms.

Michael Wolff is a longtime reporter and author best known for his coverage of Trump, including a collection of books about his chaotic first term in the White House. In the latest edition of his Daily Beast podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," Wolff argued that the mere fact that Trump went to Camp David signaled something about his intentions, given that he supposedly "hates" the country retreat.

"The fact that he is at Camp David now actually probably means something," Wolff said, arguing that it was an attempt at "trying to be presidential," and adding, "He is trying to evoke, in the middle of a war that he can’t get out of and that he can’t solve, it’s, ‘ I am a serious president, a serious guy trying to solve this."

The Daily Beast noted that Trump has utilized Camp David far less often than any of his predecessors. While he made more use of it in his first term, during his second term, "he has made only sporadic trips."

Wolff noted further that, if the intention was indeed to look more serious, then that trip to Camp David appeared to have failed miserably for Trump.

“Now of course then he goes to Camp David, and it doesn’t appear to be serious at all,” Wolff said. “It’s just more of the Trump show, which he cannot not do... Camp David is supposed to be the place where it’s a presidential retreat. A president goes to be by himself or with his intimates and think, quiet time, all of which Trump does not have, does not want, cannot endure.”

Trump also notably did not stay overnight at the retreat, with Wolff noting that bedding has been an "issue" for the president, and suggesting that the rustic style of the retreat's "Aspen Lodge" was too much for him to stomach.

“He won’t spend time on the details of going to war, but on bedding at a hotel he comes alive,” Wolff explained. “I can’t think of anything that would be in greater stylistic and aesthetic contrast than Camp David and the Trump aesthetic.”

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