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Comey calls Trump's return an "enormous mistake"

In an ABC interview recorded before the midterms, the former FBI director argues that Trump's second term lacks the internal restraints of his first.

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ABC News In-depth Story of November 13, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of ABC News In-depth's most watched videos since yesterday, with 188,606 views.

‘Enormous mistake’: Ex-FBI director James Comey reflects on Trump’s America

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0:50Comey recalls Trump focusing on public relations rather than national security during their first briefing.
2:05Two dinner settings surprised Comey; he says Trump was seeking a commitment to personal loyalty.
3:43Comey argues that Trump's second administration lacks the internal institutional restraints present during his first term.
5:46Despite calling Trump's return an enormous mistake, Comey expresses hope for a humble rebuilding of American institutions.
7:43Comey says accountability and documenting this era will matter to how Americans remember it.

James Comey sees fewer people willing to restrain Donald Trump inside his second administration, and considers that a fundamental difference from the president's first term.

"The second term is worse in almost every conceivable way," the former FBI director tells Four Corners reporter Mark Willacy in an extended interview published by ABC News In-depth. ABC says the conversation was recorded ahead of the US midterm elections.

Comey's argument begins with his own encounters with Trump. Recalling a briefing at Trump Tower before the first inauguration, he says Trump concentrated on public relations rather than the national-security implications of what he was being told.

He then describes arriving for a White House dinner and finding only two place settings. Comey interprets the private meeting as an attempt to secure his personal loyalty: "It was set up so that he could try to extract from me a commitment to be loyal to him personally."

Those memories underpin his broader assessment. Comey argues that officials who provided institutional "guardrails" during Trump's first administration are no longer there to moderate him.

But his outlook is not entirely pessimistic. "We as a country made an enormous mistake returning Donald Trump to power," he says, while suggesting that the experience could prompt a more humble rebuilding of American institutions.

He predicts lasting damage to the Republican Party and closes by stressing accountability and the importance of documenting this period, so Americans can reckon with what happened rather than simply move past it.

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