These are dark days at the White House. The first indictments were unsealed this week by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and more are likely in the weeks ahead. For the first time in two decades, Washington faces the prospect of seeing a president impeached and indicted.
According to a new report from Politico, the turmoil is taking its toll on President Trump, too, who has seen Chief of Staff John Kelly get rid of his most trusted aides and confidants, leaving Trump feeling cut off from his support network. A friend of the president commented:
“I think he’s been humbled. But he has no friends left in his own administration. He trusted Jared, but Jared’s in a box, fighting his own battles. He had Keith, he had Corey every now and then. Now he’s alone.”
The “Keith” referenced by the friend is Trump’s longtime personal bodyguard Keith Schiller, who left the administration earlier this year. “Corey” would be former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was also trusted by the president but refused a job in the White House because he said the salary was “chump change.”
As a result of recent events and Trump’s own abrasive personality, Politico reporters Annie Karni and Eliana Johnson note that the president’s own willingness to attack others has not served him well:
“Trump has relished personal fights and nursed grudges; continued to vilify Clinton and defend his own legitimacy amid the expanding Russia probes; stirred racial tensions while measuring his success by the strength of his base; and taken more interest in throwing elbows on cultural issues than on the matters of policy that preoccupy Republican leaders in Congress.”
When Trump brought in John Kelly to serve as chief of staff, it was hoped the move might help create order and structure to an often out of control administration, but has only left Trump feeling deeply isolated, according to a Trump friend:
“Kelly is a tremendous guy in command and control. But it’s not how this president likes to live. He curates by having different points of view around. He wants an open door. He wants to be the final arbiter of everything.”
And while most presidents have allies in Congress who will close ranks around them in times of crisis, Trump has repeatedly gone after Republican leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John McCain (R-AZ) in an attempt to place blame on others for his own failures. And that, in turn, has left many key GOP figures unwilling to offer a lifeline to Trump.
Featured Image Via the BBC
