The Trump administration is scrambling to keep its footing after being hit by several gut punches over the past week.
In rapid succession, communications director Hope Hicks announced her imminent departure; several damaging stories about senior adviser Jared Kushner emerged; new tariffs on steel and aluminum were announced by President Trump to the consternation of key aides; and the commander in chief’s tone vacillated on gun control.
Amid all this, Trump once again took aim at Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter, and the White House had to deny that the departure of two major figures — national security adviser H.R. McMaster and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn — was in the works.
The administration’s capacity for chaos is unlike any in recent memory. Many Washington Republicans express horror at the never-ending controversies.
Even people loyal to the president say morale at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has taken a serious hit.
One source close to the White House characterized the reason for Hicks’s departure as “getting tired of beating her head off a wall” trying to keep some modicum of order.
She was not alone in feeling that way, the source suggested.
Anthony Scaramucci, Hicks’s predecessor as communications director — though he held the post for less than two weeks — has gone public on the problems.
Scaramucci told CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday that White House morale was “terrible,” something he appeared to lay at the feet of Trump’s chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly.
Appearing at a forum in California earlier in the week, Scaramucci said that, on a 1-10 scale, morale in the White House was “minus 15.”
The White House pushes back against reports of chaos and disillusionment, insisting that such stories are sensationalized, and the product of sources with axes to grind and a biased media.
“Another day, another hit piece. We’re used to it by now. We plow ahead and move forward while this president racks up success after success,” said one senior White House official, referring to negative stories in general.
Others in the president’s orbit expressed concern that Hicks’s resignation would leave the president more isolated and more prone to volatility.
After she leaves, there will be just one member of the president’s original campaign staff left in the White House: director of social media Dan Scavino Jr.
