Watch: Trumps Partied Before Rally; President Called 'Total Monster' During Riot
Before he took to the stage on Wednesday to urge his followers to storm the Capitol building, Donald Trump and family members pumped themselves up listening to Laura Branigan's "Gloria" and filming each other smiling and dancing.
"The footage was filmed by Donald Trump Jnr and shows him partying with his girlfriend, sister Ivanka, brother Eric, the president and other senior officials including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows," writes Yahoo News Australia.
At one point, advisor (and Trump Jnr's girlfriend) Kimberly Guilfoyle dances; at another, Meadows offers a thumbs-up. The President is seen watching the rally on various monitors in a tent set up outside the rally.
Later, though, Trump's mood turned darker while he watched his followers storm the White House, but not because he was appalled by the events.
"Cocooned in a small private dining room next to the Oval Office, Trump watched on cable news as his followers ransacked the Capitol building, but appeared disinterested in the insurrection. Instead, he grew increasingly agitated and raved furiously that his own vice president had not backed his attempt to overthrow the election, insiders say," writes the Daily Mail.
"As the television showed scenes from the Capitol that shocked the nation and the world, increasingly desperate aides pleaded with Trump to intervene, but he resisted and insisted that nothing was wrong, the sources say."
The Washington Post reports that those "who interacted with Trump on Wednesday said they found him in a fragile and volatile state. He spent the afternoon and evening cocooned at the White House and listening only to a small coterie of loyal aides — including Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, personnel director Johnny McEntee and policy adviser Stephen Miller. Many of his top confidants — Meadows, son-in-law Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump, among others — were publicly silent."
The close advisor added: "He's got a bunker mentality now, he really does."
Even after the mob broke into the Capitol, Trump refused to condemn their actions. "He kept saying: 'The vast majority of them are peaceful. What about the riots this summer? What about the other side? No one cared when they were rioting. My people are peaceful. My people aren't thugs,' " writes the WP.
An administration official said. "He didn't want to condemn his people."
"He was a total monster today," this official told the WP.