The Political Bargain Behind Trump’s Cabinet of Lamentables

Of all the images transmitted from the lobby of Trump Tower over the past few weeks, perhaps the most poignant were the ones of a white-haired Al Gore emerging from the elevators after a face-to-face with the building’s owner, on Monday. “I found it an extremely interesting meeting, and to be continued,” Gore told the ever-present cameras. “I’m just going to leave it at that.” Some people interpreted the fact that Donald Trump had met with Gore, the former Democratic Vice-President and veteran climate-change campaigner, as a sign that he might be rethinking the retrogressive views about environmental policy he expressed during the campaign. This line of thinking appeared to get another boost on Wednesday, when Leonardo DiCaprio, who earlier this year released a documentary about the impact of global warming called “Before the Flood,” also traipsed into Trump Tower.