Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta argued this week that President Donald Trump's preoccupation with ongoing construction and renovation projects at the White House suggests that, on some level, the president recognizes his own shortcomings in office.

Acosta, who served as a correspondent and anchor at CNN from 2007 to 2025 and was a frequent target of Trump's hostility toward the press during his first term, appeared on the latest episode of "Fast Politics," a podcast hosted by political commentator Molly Jong-Fast. Their discussion turned to the state of the Iran war, with Acosta drawing a comparison between Trump's approach to the conflict and his alleged habits on the golf course.

"He thinks that he can win the Iran war in the way that he wins his golf tournaments at Bedminster, where the caddy dumps a little ball out of his pocket," Acosta said. "He's wishing that the caddy, that Pete Hegseth, would dump a golf ball out of his pocket, so in some way he could win the war in Iran, and there have been stories like they're looking for ideas. They're looking for new, thinking-outside-the-box ideas on how to win the war in Iran."

Acosta also referenced recent reporting indicating that the conflict with Iran has "depleted much of our long-range missile capacity," a development he characterized as "a big old, industrial-sized, Donald Trump-sized f—— up." He suggested that Trump may be tacitly acknowledging his difficulties managing major presidential responsibilities, including wars and pandemics.

"Who could have seen that the man who bankrupted all the casinos would be just so terrible at being president?" Jong-Fast remarked. "Even though the last time he was president, he killed lots of his supporters by telling them not to wear masks."

Acosta connected Trump's renovation focus to a possible awareness of these limitations. "And I think that's why he's been focused on, like, building a helipad and putting new grass in at the White House and changing the columns and things like that," he said. "Maybe it's dawned on him he's also bad at the big things, like maybe running a pandemic is just not his thing. Well, maybe winning a war is just not his thing."

Jong-Fast reinforced the point by citing recent observations from longtime Trump reporter and author Maggie Haberman, a New York Times White House correspondent who has covered Trump for decades and wrote the 2022 biography "Confidence Man." Haberman noted that during one of her White House visits, "all he was interested in was the real estate."

Trump's interest in the physical aspects of his properties has been a recurring theme throughout his career, from his real estate development roots in Queens and Manhattan to his branding of residential towers, hotels, and golf clubs. His company, the Trump Organization, built its identity around large-scale property development and licensing deals bearing the Trump name.

Acosta concluded with a broader critique of Trump's career trajectory. "He's good at slapping his name on s——," he said. "He's good at marketing things to people that have disposable amounts of money, and not so disposable amounts of money as it turns out many cases like crypto, but his specialty has always been being a shyster and being a guy who pulls a fast one, and that just ain't good enough, and why we're learning this lesson all over again a second time around."