The White House remains on a collision course between the president’s fixed habits and the demands of his new job.
The 70-year-old leader of the free world sat behind his desk in the Oval Office last Friday afternoon, doing what he’s done for years: selling himself. His 100th day in office was approaching, and Trump was eager to reshape the hardening narrative of a White House veering off course.
So he took it upon himself to explain that his presidency was actually on track, inviting a pair of POLITICO reporters into the Oval Office for an impromptu meeting. He sat at the Resolute desk, with his daughter Ivanka across from him. One aide said the chat was off-the-record, but Trump insisted, over objections from nervous-looking staffers, that he be quoted.
He addressed the idea that his senior aides weren’t getting along. He called out their names and, one by one, they walked in, each surprised to see reporters in the room—chief of staff Reince Priebus, then chief strategist Steve Bannon, and eventually senior adviser Jared Kushner. “The team gets along really, really well,” he said.
He turned to his relationships with world leaders. “I have a terrific relationship with Xi,” he said, referring to the Chinese president, who Trump recently invited for a weekend visit at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Finally, he rattled off the biggest hits of his first three months and promised more to come.
It was classic Trump: Confident, hyperbolic and insistent on asserting control.
But interviews with nearly two dozen aides, allies, and others close to the president paint a different picture – one of a White House on a collision course between Trump’s fixed habits and his growing realization that this job is harder than he imagined when he won the election on Nov. 8.
So far, Trump has led a White House gripped by paranoia and insecurity, paralyzed by internal jockeying for power. Mistrust between aides runs so deep that many now employ their own personal P.R. advisers — in part to ensure their own narratives get out. Trump himself has been deeply engaged with media figures, even huddling in the Oval Office with Matt Drudge.
Trump remains reliant as ever on his children and longtime friends for counsel. White House staff have learned to cater to the president’s image obsession by presenting decisions in terms of how they’ll play in the press. Among his first reads in the morning is still the New York Post. When Trump feels like playing golf, he does — at courses he owns. When Trump feels like eating out, he does — at hotels with his name on the outside.
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This … does not sound like a healthy, robust decision-making process: https://t.co/uKplGZ6CYS pic.twitter.com/qdkSRNyXnY
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) April 27, 2017
Pathetic.
What have been his major accomplishments in these 100 days? So far, about the only thing mentioned is the Gorsuch confirmation. But who knows what type of SCOTUS jurist he will be? And what about other potential vacancies at SCOTUS? Some say there may be one or two more later this year. We have no guarantees that the next justice will be even close to conservative — especially since Trump has his liberal children advising him.
The Wall? Allegedly, it’s being put off for now, but that may mean it will never be built. And repealing Obamacare? Well, it looks like whatever he and his Republican buddies come up will be nothing close to repeal.
Ok, so he’s still new to the job. But in a hundred days he should be making some progress toward fulfilling his promises. So far, aside from a few minor EOs, he really hasn’t made any progress in fulfilling his campaign promises. And it doesn’t look like he intends to so.
He’s play acting and fumbling around making many mistakes in the process. The biggest question is what will happen when he gets bored with it. He doesn’t have a long attention span. My guess it that is why his daughter and SIL are in the positions they are in. They will actually be running things eventually.
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