Former President Donald Trump was always bored during intelligence briefings, but the one thing he absolutely loved was hearing gossip about world leaders he didn’t like.

That’s what insiders told The New York Times, saying Trump would definitely brighten up when security agencies relayed intimate details gleaned from the lives of Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, and French President Emanuel Macron.

“But the details of broader national security policies bored him,” reporters wrote. Their sources were officials who were present when the intelligence briefings were held.

The Times report about the former president’s fixation with classified documents detailing the inner lives of his allies and foes coincides with the tempest of scrutiny he’s facing about the way he handled hundreds of classified documents retrieved from his Palm Beach residence — documents that he had brought with him when he left office, The Independent reports.

The journalists also noted Trump’s rapacious consumption of “titillating” intel regarding his fellow world leaders stemmed from his desire to deepen ties with autocrats like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and China’s Xi Jinping.

But the situation was different when it came to America’s allies — like Germany’s Merkel, or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He liked to keep tabs on them that he could use as “leverage” against those he personally disliked.

Rolling Stone points to one such example, which was also cited by The Times and it involves Trump’s fascination with Macron’s purported “love life.” Trump apparently loved boasting that he had top secret information about this, via information he’d gathered through these intelligence briefings.

A list of documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago contains “Item 1a” which was revealed to be “info re: President of France.” According to Rolling Stone, before and after leaving office Trump liked to brag to associates that he had illicit details on the French President.

The Times report sheds much light on Trump’s handling of top-secret documents while at the same time having the nuclear codes at his fingertips (what a scary thought!) and the information was carefully gleaned from interviews with former Trump administration officials, all of whom requested anonymity over concerns about the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation or because they hoped to avoid Trump’s famously “mercurial temper.”

In some ways, Trump reminds me of a creepy boss I worked for some 30 years ago at a rat-bag newspaper in Modesto, California. This man was the publisher of the newspaper and he would talk nicely to people and then gossip behind their backs. Especially if they were gay men. Even though he was a convicted gay pedophile. His favorite thing to do was to run out and get photos of horrible car accidents or gory crime scenes.

On one particular day, I had to go out and take photos of an open grave where a woman had been buried. Fortunately, the woman’s body had been removed. But I’ll never forget working for this man, who was every bit as creepy as Trump.

I’ve left this awful man behind and slowly, the nation is leaving Trump behind. I’ll never miss either of them.