Trump is a fabulist — which is why it’s so important National Archives recovered docs: analysis

Traits unique to former President Donald Trump are why the National Archives story is so important, CNN's Chris Cillizza argued on Tuesday.

"Last month, 15 boxes of materials from Donald Trump's presidency were retrieved from his home at Mar-a-Lago by employees of the National Archives -- boxes that contained, among other things, letters from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and former President Barack Obama," he wrote. "The news comes after CNN reported that National Archives staff had to tape together some Trump White House documents that were provided to the House committee investigating January 6 because they had been ripped up."

Cillizza argued it is "a very big deal. And should be getting much more attention than it currently is."

He noted that Trump was "reckless in the extreme" and frequently did not tell the truth.

"Then there's this: Trump is -- and has always been -- a fabulist. He is uniquely obsessed with always portraying himself as a winner -- dating back to his days as a young professional when he made up an employee -- named John Barron -- who would call the New York tabloids and spread pro-Trump gossip," he wrote. "When you combine that series of Trump traits, you see a) how difficult it will be for the National Archives to ever get a complete picture of the Trump presidency and b) why it is so, so important that it does everything in its power to do so."

Cillizza argued the Archive's work is so important because "Trump is already in the process of trying to rewrite the history of his term in office, most notably with his repeated false assertions that the 2020 election was rigged. (It wasn't.) And as his four years as president get further in the rearview mirror, our collective memory may begin to falter when it comes remembering the Trump years -- and what a cataclysm he represented (and represents) for American democracy."

Read the full analysis.