During a Monday appearance on Mediaite’s Press Club, MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle said that President Donald Trump is operating from inside a “gilded cage,” arguing that the president is more consumed by personal enrichment and access for wealthy elites than by the voters who first powered his rise.

In conversation with Mediaite founding editor Colby Hall, the MS NOW lead business analyst said that Trump’s second term looks far different from the first, when his rallies served as a point of connection with supporters who felt ignored by the political system.

“A Trump rally is a community event,” Ruhle said, recalling stops in places where “there aren’t a lot of movie theaters anymore,” “there aren’t a lot of county fairs,” and “there aren’t a lot of concerts to go to.”

But now, Ruhle said, “I think he’s in a gilded cage this time.”

“I think the president spends all of his time at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago,” she continued. “And at Mar-a-Lago, now on any given night, it’s a million-dollar dinner with him. It’s a five-million-dollar dinner with him. It’s people who are extraordinarily successful, who have become more successful, potentially because they’re Trump adjacent.”

Ruhle argued that Trump’s focus has shifted away from voters toward a circle of people benefiting financially from proximity to him and his administration.

“I think that this time around, and I said this after I went to the White House, I think he’s in a gilded cage this time,” she said. “I think that Donald Trump’s original base has not been served in any way.”

Ruhle also pointed to the president’s family and allies, saying, “he himself is more financially successful than I would guess he’s ever imagined. His family business is through the roof. [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick’s family business is through the roof, I mean, their sons have made millions and billions of dollars.”

She contrasted that with the concerns she said are being neglected.

“We haven’t even talked, I haven’t even heard the president mention the price of healthcare this year,” Ruhle said. “And it spiked in January.”

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The post ‘He’s in a Gilded Cage’: Stephanie Ruhle Says Trump Is Prioritizing Profit Over Presidency first appeared on Mediaite.

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