Courtesy of Vanity Fair:
Donald Trump’s relationship with John Kelly, his chief of staff, fraught from the beginning, may finally have gone past the point of no return. Two prominent Republicans in frequent contact with the White House told me that Trump has discussed choosing Kelly’s successor in recent days, asking a close friend what he thought about David Urban, a veteran Washington lobbyist and political operative who helped engineer Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania. Ivanka is also playing a central role in the search, quietly field-testing ideas with people. “Ivanka is the most worried about it. She’s trying to figure who replaces Kelly,” a person who’s spoken with her said.
Kelly’s departure likely isn’t imminent, sources said. “He wants to stay longer than Reince [Priebus],” an outside adviser said. Trump can also hardly afford another high-level staff departure, which would trigger days of negative news cycles. “This could be like [Jeff] Sessions,” one of the Republicans explained, referring to Trump’s festering frustration about not being able to replace his attorney general.
But the prospect of a Trump-Kelly rupture became more probable as news of their clashes over immigration leaked. Last week, Kelly reportedly infuriated Trump when he told Fox News that Trump had “evolved” on his position to build a southern border wall. Kelly further catalyzed Trump’s ire when he told Democratic lawmakers that Trump was “uninformed” when he made his campaign promise to build the wall. The next morning Trump rebutted his chief of staff with a tweet: “The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it.”
No way this should come as a surprise to anybody, Trump simply does not like to be controlled.
And Kelly has been trying to get the White House to run with military like efficiency which has some staffers referring to him as "the Church Lady."
Of course as we have discussed in the past, once someone like Kelly is removed that leaves Trump unsupervised, and like the over grown toddler that he is his impulsivity will be left unchecked and the unraveling of his presidency will only accelerate.
I guess Ivanka better get on the stick.
I think that Ivanka will choose herself.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
You read my mind Beaglemom!
DeleteOnly members of his family have any worth in his eyes. I agree with both Beaglemom and 6:31 AM that the buffoon would love nothing more than to have his precious Ivanka as Chief of Staff.
DeleteNo. But they will choose a weak yes-man because Trump can’t stand being managed or disciplined. With Kelly gone, the White House will devolve back to the dysfunctional clown car it was before Kelly took over. Trump will once more be out of control and even more unpresidential than he was at the start.
DeleteAnd I find it laughable that Ivanka has the skills to pick a new CoS.
DeleteKelly is a misogynistic racist whose method for controlling Trump seems to be to keep him in his bedroom. Good riddance.
ReplyDeleteFuck Kelley. He is a two faced traitor. Not a moral bone in his body. Oh yea, and a prolific liar.
DeleteSo the idea of a wall was all from Trump's puny brain, was it? That must be a surprise to the Border Patrol, who already watch 700 MILES of border wall. He's such a baby. And Ivanka as CofS will have to finally report her business and professional dealings, including with China and Russia. That will not go well.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor most of the day, US media has covered Sessions' attempt—likely at Trump's direction or encouragement—to fire Deputy FBI Director McCabe *without* noting that McCabe is a *major* witness in the Obstruction case against Trump (an impeachable offense). *That's* the story here.
ReplyDeletehttps://threadreaderapp.com/thread/955895231148371969.html
Here's video of my appearance on CNN today (John Vause, Dave Jacobson, John Thomas and I discussed the breaking Trump-Russia news, including Mueller's past/upcoming interviews, a possible Rick Gates plea deal, and the Sessions-FBI tilt over Andrew McCabe):
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/956201697101205504
(THREAD) The Attorney General pressuring the FBI to fire Andrew McCabe is *much* bigger news than many think. I explain why—and it's not very complicated, either—in this brief thread. Hope you'll pass it on.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/955910646146748417.html
(THREAD) BREAKING: We now know two topics Mueller plans to ask Trump about: the Flynn firing and the Comey firing. And Trump is demanding that he be able to answer some questions in writing—an obvious attempt to get most or all of the questions in advance.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/955920445726973952.html
THREAD: What does today’s @NBCNews report about Flynn’s FBI interview tell us about Mueller’s obstruction investigation? (Short answer: Quite a bit.)
https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/956160851832164353
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/956160851832164353.html
(THREAD) BREAKING NEWS: A major event has occurred in the Trump-Russia investigation: Special Counsel Bob Mueller has interviewed one of his primary targets, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This thread analyzes what it means for Trump and the nation. I hope you'll read and share.
ReplyDeletehttps://threadreaderapp.com/thread/955827909704519682.html
'I guess Ivanka better get' OUT the Wp!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ivanka is running the country. Donald seems to do anything his baby wants.
ReplyDeleteWonder what's the price she pays to get daddy to do anything she wants?
..find another yes man...
ReplyDeleteJust trying to make dictatorship
You Need To Watch This
ReplyDeleteI’ve been watching rightwing media since the late 80s. I’ve been doing it professionally for two decades. Very little surprises me. But last night on a tip I checked out a series of segments on Fox claiming new evidence of a anti-Trump “secret society” at the FBI plotting to overthrow the Trump administration.
Top billing on this went to Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) who said this …
Video
...This is simply crazy. This isn’t some caller into CSPAN. This is a United States Senator. Nicole Lafond has more on this “secret society” conspiracy theory here.
But in the process of hunting up that video I stumbled on Lou Dobbs show. Lou’s now on Fox Business Network. I know Dobbs. I remember when he was a semi-normal person years ago on CNN. But I haven’t just watched his show in a long time. Even I found his performance genuinely shocking. He parroted the same new “secret society” talking points, “witch hunt”, “fake news”. But it wasn’t any single point or accusation. It was the whole – the wild claims of coverups and crimes, plotting against the elected President, demands for purges. All of it together combined with the addled and hyped up affect feels like something out of some clownishly ruthless dictatorship. It almost doesn’t seem real even by those standards. Here’s a clip of the first minute or so intro to his show last night.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/you-need-to-watch-this
They pine for an oligarchy.
Delete‘Fire And Fury’ Sales Surpass 1.7 Million Less Than 3 Weeks Since Publication
ReplyDeletehttps://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fire-and-fury-sales-exceed-million
Outstanding news! Down w/Trump!
DeleteI have received my pre-ordered copy. Time to order more and have them sent to your favorite Trumpkin, anonymously. My BIL needs a copy, I think.
DeleteMueller Seems to Be Flipping More and More Former Trump Allies
ReplyDeletehttp://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a15868205/michael-flynn-russia-investigation/
I think Ivanka will choose herself.
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck does Ivanka know about a chief of staff?!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, for fuck’s sake!
It just keeps getting worse and worse. Will this nightmare ever end?!
R in NC
She doesn't. She does know her father after a lifetime of appeasement and watching other women appease him. And what happens when the baby loses his binky.
DeleteShe's likely applied the same skills to hiring cook, maid, chauffeur, personal secretary,
tailor and other ...service... personnel.
Say, wasn't Hope Hicks a friend of hers.
True, 4:33, very true.
DeleteThese brats are so entitled, they don’t know how ignorant they are.
OK, who is the most inept and politically volatile person we can think of. Let's be sure they are on the short list. The sooner this fiasco of an illegitimate occupation of the Oval Office is over, the better.
ReplyDeleteBring back Scaramoochie.