It would be an understatement to say that the staffing of the White House has seen its ups and downs. For every deputy chief of staff forced to resign because of newly discovered allegations of domestic abuse, there’s an Anthony Scaramucci who lasts less than two weeks. While Hope Hicks lasted longer than just about everyone, she also resigned as communications director. Word on the street is that Chief of Staff John Kelly isn’t long for his post either. Kelly’s continued stay may be down to the lack of a readymade successor. However, according to some sources, advisors have been telling President Trump that he doesn’t even need a chief of staff or communications director. Per CNN:
Trump has absorbed the advice, but offered little indication whether he’s interested in taking it, the person said. He’s been warned by other confidants that it’s impossible to run the West Wing without a chief of staff.
There are no signs Trump is ready to dismiss top aide John Kelly. But the option of running his White House without a chief of staff has been planted in Trump’s mind, and he’s not rejected it outright, the person said.
According to those close to him, Trump seeks the “freewheeling” management style he enjoyed as a businessman and is “annoyed” by the headlines and TV coverage he receives (which is odd since Trump claims to not watch critical networks like CNN). Shockingly, President Trump is reportedly prepared to jettison long-established West Wing structures.
Trump has apparently begn a dry run to see what it’d be like without a chief of staff by not including Kelly on some staffing and policy decisions, and Bloomberg reports that he wasn’t privy to H.R. McMaster’s recent ouster as national security advisor.