Trump 'doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out.'

Donald Trump is epically unprepared to be president. He has no realistic policies, no advisers, no capacity to learn. His vast narcissism makes him a closed fortress. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out. -David Brooks, New York Times, March 18, 2016

I recalled the paragraph above from David Brooks' March 2016 column as the news filtered out today that Donald Trump told an interviewer that he doesn't need a daily intelligence briefing when he becomes president because, you know, he's smart, really smart.

Donald Trump Ties C.I.A. Reports on Russian Meddling to Democrats’ Shame

He also indicated that as president, he would not take the daily intelligence briefing that President Obama and his predecessors have received. Mr. Trump, who has received the briefing sparingly as president-elect, said that it was often repetitive and that he would take it “when I need it.” He said his vice president, Mike Pence, would receive the daily briefing.

“You know, I’m, like, a smart person,” he said. “I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.”

He added that he had instructed the officials who give the briefing: “‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on a one-minute’s notice.’”

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But that's not to say that he won't be briefed in some fashion once he takes office. A Washington Post story from last July revealed that his secretary brings him a pile of printouts every morning that contain news articles about The Donald.

Donald Trump doesn’t read much. Being president probably wouldn’t change that.

He has no time to read, he said: “I never have. I’m always busy doing a lot. Now I’m more busy, I guess, than ever before.”

Trump’s desk is piled high with magazines, nearly all of them with himself on their covers, (see video above) and each morning, he reviews a pile of printouts of news articles about himself that his secretary delivers to his desk. But there are no shelves of books in his office, no computer on his desk.

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Trump is now complaining about being named Time's "Person of the Year": "Who would rather have it be the Man of the Year?" pic.twitter.com/9Id0zGExbX

— Colin Jones (@colinjones) December 9, 2016