i don't mean that there's deceit, i mean that -- >> confusion. >> trump doesn't want it to have been said today, but thursday he didn't mind. but today he minds. it is maddening. >> first of all, the president is not shy about contradicting his subordinates at any time, publicly or privately. aisles it's part of how he views his negotiations. he wants the wiggle room. he doesn't want anything said definitively. he wants preconditions one day, no preconditions the next. it's how he's approached this. bolton was more focused on the policy. for the president it's the personality. it's about trying to make that connection with the foreign leader. whoever that might be. often an authoritarian figure. thinking he himself, as he phrases it, the ultimate dealmaker, can bring this together, some sort of agreement that potentially could end this crisis. >> i was reminded the president actually said that, no preconditions, to chuck todd, when he met with him. >> yep. >> on "meet the press." so yes, simply to say a lot of