My takeaway from this article: Trump's paranoia about the Deep State carries significant opportunity costs. https://t.co/0SCVAlb1sB
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) June 19, 2017
Like any other cartel boss, Trump can’t trust his lieutenants unless he’s got them within arm’s reach — forever checking their body language, the eye contact between underling & underling, the pauses after his applause lines and the enthusiasm of their individual responses. And it’s not as though the Trump administration took any effort to keep the lower bureaucratic offices they inherited properly staffed or funded while the new crew figured out how to work the light switches…
…The CIA director’s treks to the West Wing reflect Trump’s insistence on frequent meetings with favored members of his team. Every president has regular contact with key Cabinet members, but Trump, who remains deeply mistrustful of career agency officials, has turned the White House into a hangout for his chosen department heads.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has met with the president at least 34 times since he was confirmed in February, according to a POLITICO analysis of Trump’s interactions since taking office. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are also frequent guests at the White House — so much so that one White House staffer quipped, “Wilbur practically lives here.” Defense Secretary James Mattis has enjoyed private meetings with the president, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has taken to eating at the White House mess several times a week.
Senior aides say Trump demands face time with his appointees in part because he doesn’t trust bureaucrats who do the day-to-day work of the federal government. The president shuns them as tools of what he often refers to as the “deep state,” and blames them for frequent, unflattering news stories coming from his White House, according to two White House aides…
Two administration officials said the parade of Cabinet officials going into the White House on a daily basis has prompted worries that their focus is being diverted from the day-to-day operations of their departments and agencies.
“We’ll see how long it lasts,” one of the officials said, noting that many secretaries don’t yet have a full cast of undersecretaries to brief top White House officials. “They don’t have their politicals yet, so some of it is a necessity.”…
Some of the Cabinet officials are also his friends, and they are beckoned to the president for political advice, even if it’s outside the purview of their agency…
One senior administration official said White House staff members understand the president’s desire to rely on agency heads to learn about complex issues, but they wish that the meetings would be coordinated in advance. Instead, Cabinet secretaries like Mnuchin and Ross just stroll in with little notice.
Others in the administration remain concerned that Cabinet officials are spending too much time schmoozing with the president and attending events, and not enough at their agencies…
Just a buncha guys from the old neighborhood, hangin’ around, shootin’ the breeze. They’re not running the country, they’re too busy running the ongoing Donald Trump campaign / crime cartel.
THANKS, REPUBLICANS!
Trump’s Foreign Policy “Team”: Uneasy Sits the Arse That Warms A ThronePost + Comments (153)