To understand how President Donald Trump promotes his presidency and policies, especially when challenged, one must understand the impact of Roy Cohn, the late New York attorney, on his approach to politics and power.

Cohn was a behind-the-scenes player, a ruthless practitioner of “dirty tricks” and power politics who attached himself to powerful men, assisting their careers while advancing his own. He rose to prominence as the prosecutor of the Rosenbergs (a couple charged, convicted, and executed as Soviet spies) and became a key strategist working with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s congressional hearings to expose supposed Communist infiltration in the United States.

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Cohn then advised Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, before hitching his star to Donald Trump as he began his career in New York City real estate and politics.

Cohn’s advice to his clients has been distilled into three rules: 1.attack, attack, attack, 2.admit nothing; deny everything, and 3. always claim victory; never admit defeat.

Cohn always wanted his clients or mentees on the offensive, projecting an image of power, showing no weakness, and appearing in control. These traits are on daily display in the Trump White House, as he........

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