Think Tank Watch has learned that President Donald Trump is in negotiations with top officials at the liberal Brookings Institution to pave the way for an eventual position at the think tank.
A senior Brookings official, who requested anonymity due to fear of upsetting Mr. Trump, tells Think Tank Watch that Trump would like to establish the first billion-dollar chair at a think tank. His desire, according to the official, is to establish a new entity within Brookings called the "Center for the Art of Trump Negotiating Tactics."
Mr. Trump apparently is also trying to get Brookings to change its name to "Trump Institution," saying that Brookings has lost a lot of its prestige and goodwill after a series of scandals the past few years (see here).
The eventual goal, according to a top White House official, is for Trump to buy the adjacent American Enterprise Institute (AEI) building and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) building and turn in into one large think tank-themed hotel.
A Brookings spokesman would not comment on the specifics of negotiations, but said that he would welcome Mr. Trump joining Brookings as it "would seriously bolster its image" which has "been in steady decline in recent years."
