Day 138: Donald Trump Apparently Hates His Whole Team

Another day, another close confidant gets Trump’s vitriol.

The Trump Train has bowled over another member of The Donald’s inner circle. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that Trump is unhappy with his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. The discontentment goes back months, stemming from the moment that Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation.

Trump is obviously frustrated by the courts continually blocking both iterations of his travel ban, as evidenced by his blame-shifting and self-destructing tweets yesterday. But his rift with Sessions goes beyond what boiled over on social media.

The frustration over the travel ban might be a momentary episode were it not for the deeper resentment Mr. Trump feels toward Mr. Sessions, according to people close to the president. When Mr. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Mr. Trump learned about it only when he was in the middle of another event, and he publicly questioned the decision.

A senior administration official said Mr. Trump has not stopped burning about the decision, in occasional spurts, toward Mr. Sessions.

The spiral of a lot of Trump’s crazy behavior, in many ways, was shaped by that single decision.

In fact, much of the past two months of discomfort and self-inflicted pain for Mr. Trump can be tied in some way back to that recusal. Mr. Trump felt blindsided by Mr. Sessions’s decision and unleashed his fury at aides in the Oval Office the next day, according to four people familiar with the event. The next day was his fateful tweet about President Barack Obama conducting a wiretap of Trump Tower during the campaign, an allegation that was widely debunked.

Trump knows that firing people at this juncture is a terrible look, something he learned after seeing the backlash to firing James Comey from his director position at the FBI. So for now, Trump and Sessions will live in an uncomfortable marriage until something inevitably changes.

Sessions is added to an ever-growing list of those around Trump that have seen their influence fluctuate in the Oval Office. In the past Steve Bannon, Reince Preibus, Rex Tillerson, Sean Spicer (of course), H.R. McMaster and even Jared Kushner have seeing the waning of their impact.

Steve Bannon

Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, was literally ousted, temporarily, from the inner circle.

Trump also sometimes reminds even his senior advisers, in ways big and small, that he has the power to demote them at any time. During an Oval Office meeting about trouble spots abroad, a relatively junior foreign policy staff member prepared to take a seat on the periphery as the president’s top aides, including chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, surrounded him in chairs around the Resolute desk. But the president soon ordered up a change, said someone who witnessed the moment, telling Bannon to give up his seat for the junior staff member and relegating his top strategist to the couch.

Reince Priebus

Bannon seems to have come back in Trump’s good graces, but Preibus seems done as Trump’s chief of staff, if Trump can find anyone willing to take the gig. By all accounts, Preibus is working hard for Trump, but nothing appears enough to placate the man.

It is the fundamental dichotomy Priebus confronts these days. He is a dead man walking, according to senior White House officials, advisers and others close to the president. Aides have begun speculating about his next job. The Washington Post reported he might be ambassador to Greece. Trump adviser Roger Stone later posted a picture of the country online and labeled it as Priebus’ next destination. Yet he continues to show up for work every day as the chief of staff, even as headlines say he will be fired — if not today, then tomorrow or next week.

And yet, he remains in place. His greatest job security: There are few takers for what might be an unworkable gig. He stays in the office until late at night and often toils away on the weekend with little control over what ultimately happens.

Rex Tillerson

Tillerson, the Secretary of State, is still rarely allowed public appearances or speaking opportunities, despite those being key job duties. He was pushed to the fringes after less than a month on the job.

One month isn’t usually enough time to properly evaluate the performance of the nation’s top diplomat, but just three weeks after Tillerson took office, it’s clear that his tenure is already in trouble.

Trump denied Tillerson’s selection of a deputy and promptly made sweeping policy changes regarding Palestinian statehood and Iran without Tillerson’s input, and largely excluded him from meetings with leaders from Israel, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Mexico. Trump has used other individuals to fill the roles traditionally delegated to the Secretary of State.

At the moment, however, neither the headlines nor the trend lines look all that good for Tillerson. The secretary of state has options to play a more influential role under these unhappy circumstances, but, frankly, none of them are all that good. Unless his boss empowers him, Tillerson won’t have the street cred he needs at home and abroad to emerge as a truly consequential secretary of state.

Sean Spicer

Spicer, Trump’s press secretary, has drawn Trump’s ire as inauguration ball decorations were still strewn throughout the White House. Spicer infamously wore an ill-fitting suit to his first press briefing, greatly upsetting a man who often cares more about style than substance. Since then, it’s been downhill. If he’s not out already — a distinct possibility — his departure seems imminent.

The briefings have become one of the most dreaded parts of the president’s day, and Trump has told allies and aides he doesn't want Spicer, who has developed a belligerent persona from behind the lectern, publicly defending and explaining the message anymore, officials added.

H.R. McMaster

Trump’s second National Security Advisor, McMaster, despite being on the job less than three months, already has a strained relationship with Trump.

McMaster’s allies and adversaries inside the White House tell me that Trump is disillusioned with him. This professional military officer has failed to read the president — by not giving him a chance to ask questions during briefings, at times even lecturing Trump.

Presented with the evidence of this buyer’s remorse, the White House on Sunday evening issued a statement from Trump: “I couldn’t be happier with H.R. He’s doing a terrific job.”

Other White House officials however tell me this is not the sentiment the president has expressed recently in private. Trump was livid, according to three White House officials, after reading in the Wall Street Journal that McMaster had called his South Korean counterpart to assure him that the president’s threat to make that country pay for a new missile defense system was not official policy. These officials say Trump screamed at McMaster on a phone call, accusing him of undercutting efforts to get South Korea to pay its fair share.

Jared Kushner

Even golden boy and son-in-law Kushner has gotten the horns from Trump on numerous occasions.

And his own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark, and he has turned against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — describing them in a fury as “incompetent,” according to one of those advisers.

Reports of Trump clashing with his closest staff are popping up every week. Disagreements happen in every administration, sure, but considering both the positions of the people that Trump is clashing with and the fact that his presidency isn’t even five months old yet, this level of hostility is unprecedented. After all, he interviewed and handpicked every single one of these people.

In case you lost track, Trump has now turned on his attorney general, chief strategist, chief of staff, secretary of state, press secretary, national security advisor, and senior advisor/son-in-law.

138 days in, 1324 to go

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