Here's What Ex-Trump Aide Reveals About How Staffers Would Keep Former President Awake

Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House adviser who gained fame as a contestant on The Apprentice and later became a critic of Donald Trump, recently shared intriguing details about efforts to prevent the former president from falling asleep during meetings and ceremonies. In a conversation with MSNBC's Jason Johnson, Newman recalled the challenges of keeping Trump engaged due to his alleged inability to focus or sit still for extended periods.

She explained how aides would structure events especially to address Trump’s attention deficit. She revealed, “We would break up the events so that he could be stimulated and not fall asleep. We could slide him different information or news articles that he could read while the long proceedings were going on, anything to keep him focused so that he wouldn’t just get up and walk out,” as reported by Huff Post.

She also hinted at the potential difficulties Trump may face during his ongoing hush money trial, indicating that courtroom proceedings could be "very boring" for him. Newman’s comments reflect her evolving relationship with Trump, from a former supporter to a vocal critic. She has previously expressed regret over supporting Trump.

She remarked, "For me, I just can’t believe I fell for a con man, a con man who turned out to be the biggest fraud. I mean, literally found by the courts to be a big fraud, so a lot of the backdrop of our show, a lot of The Apprentice that we thought was real was fabricated, and it was just a house of cards. So, I mean, we were duped, and we were young entrepreneurs thinking that we were really gonna learn something from this brilliant businessman. All we learned was not the art of the deal but the art of the con," as reported by ET.

During her tenure as the assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, Newman was part of Trump’s inner circle. However, her role ended in controversy when she was fired by then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in December 2017.

As per the reports of CNN, back then, she claimed that she recorded Kelly firing her in the Situation Room. In the recording, Kelly was heard saying, “...I think it’s important to understand that if we can make this a friendly departure we can all be, you know, you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation, and then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation…” Furthermore, Newman was heard arguing in the tape, as she exclaimed, “I don’t want to negotiate. I just, I’ve never talked – had a chance to talk to you, General Kelly, so if this is my departure, I’d like to have at least an opportunity to understand.”