The Most Powerful People In Trump’s Washington: #27 Chris Ruddy

To the vexation of the White House staff, Trump spends many evenings gabbing on the phone with a kitchen cabinet of rich-guy pals—fellas like Ruddy, who now enjoy incredible access to a famously impressionable POTUS. What's that like? To find out, we gave Ruddy a ring. Just like Trump does.

GQ: Are you scared that one night on the phone, you might offer some throwaway line about North Korea and wake up to discover you've dictated foreign policy?

CR: I'm not scared about anything I say, but sometimes I might say something in confidence. The president doesn't have a lot of filters. He's candid oftentimes with what people tell him with other people, and sometimes you don't necessarily want that shared.

GQ: So, just to be clear, you're saying the president's a leaker?

CR: No. He speaks his mind. He's a political genius.