'A failed administration': Leaked texts from powerful Republicans reveal souring on Trump
Leaked texts from a group chat for ultra-wealthy and powerful people has revealed that Donald Trump is losing support even among those tech leaders who voted for him in 2024.
Ben Smith, the former media columnist of the New York Times and co-founder of Semafor, wrote for Semafor on Sunday a deep-dive about "Chatham House," described as "a giant and raucous Signal group that forms part of the sprawling network of influential private chats that began during the fervid early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and which have fueled a new alliance of tech and the US right."
After Trump's push for out-of-the-norm tariffs, some of those in the group turn on him. But not David O. Sacks, who is the Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
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In mid-April, Sacks left the Chatham House, and wrote that, “This group has become worthless since the loudest voices have [Trump Derangement Syndrome]."
Semafor reported that a fellow group member, only identified as Bryan Goldberg, replied by saying, "I'm not sure we have TDS. I think we - Republicans who supported Trump - are seeing that this is a failed administration."
After Sacks left the group, "Signal soon showed that three men had left the group: The Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire, the bitcoin billionaire Tyler Winklevoss, and [former Fox News personality Tucker] Carlson."
The group has so far remained secret.
"They succeeded at avoiding leaks (until, to a modest extent, this article) in part because of Signal’s and WhatsApp’s disappearing message features, and in part because the groups had formed out of a mix of fear and disdain for journalists they believed were 'out to get us,' as one member put it," the report states.