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Trump vexed by challenges, scale of government

The new president’s allies say he has been surprised that government can’t be run like his business.

By Alex Isenstadt, Kenneth P. Vogel and Josh Dawsey
02/10/17 05:06 AM EST

Being president is harder than Donald Trump thought, according to aides and allies who say that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with the challenges of running the massive federal bureaucracy.

In interviews, nearly two dozen people who’ve spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration said that his mood has careened between surprise and anger as he’s faced the predictable realities of governing, from congressional delays over his cabinet nominations and legal fights holding up his aggressive initiatives to staff in-fighting and leaks.

The administration’s rocky opening days have been a setback for a president who, as a billionaire businessman, sold himself to voters as being uniquely qualified to fix what ailed the nation. Yet it has become apparent, say those close to the president, most of whom requested anonymity to describe the inner workings of the White House, that the transition from overseeing a family business to running the country has been tough on him.

Trump often asks simple questions about policies, proposals and personnel. And, when discussions get bogged down in details, the president has been known to quickly change the subject — to "seem in control at all times," one senior government official said — or direct questions about details to his chief strategist Steve Bannon, his son-in-law Jared Kushner or House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump has privately expressed disbelief over the ability of judges, bureaucrats or lawmakers to delay — or even stop — him from filling positions and implementing policies.

After Trump grew infuriated by disclosures of his confrontational phone calls with foreign leaders, an investigation was launched into the source of the leaks, according to one White House aide. National Security Council staffers have been instructed to cooperate with inquiries, including requests to inspect their electronic communications, said two sources familiar with the situation. It’s not clear whether the investigation is a formal proceeding, how far along it is or who is conducting it.

The administration is considering limiting the universe of aides with access to the calls or their transcripts, said one administration official, adding that the leaks — and Trump’s anger over them — had created a climate where people are “very careful who they talk to.”

The president and his allies believe career NSC staff assigned from other agencies are out to get them. In turn, some NSC staff believe Trump does not possess the capacity for detail and nuance required to handle the sensitive issues discussed on the calls, and that he has politicized their agency by appointing chief strategist Bannon to the council.

Last week, Trump told an associate he had become weary of in-fighting among — and leaks from — his White House staff “because it reflects on me,” and that he intended to sit down staffers to tell them “to cut this shit out.”

He also became aggravated after learning about complications surrounding his appointment of one of his top fundraisers, Anthony Scaramucci, to a plum White House job, which Trump blamed on internal jockeying between aides, according to one person with knowledge of the situation.

Trump “was furious,” this person said. “He doesn’t like this shit.”

The White House press office did not respond to a series of detailed questions about the way the president has coped with leaks, in-fighting and setbacks.

Christopher Ruddy, a Trump friend and the chief executive of the conservative Newsmax Media, said “Running the federal government is something new for him, for sure.” But, Ruddy added, “I think if he's demonstrated anything in his life, he is a very fast learner and adapts very quickly. The man is not to be underestimated.”

For all his frustrations, Trump has reveled in the trappings of the presidency. He has taken a liking to the Oval Office, where he spends much of his time working. Following a recent gathering of business leaders, he brought the group into the storied room and showed them around.

But he has also sought refuge from the pressures of the presidency, frequently calling up old friends and sounding them out about golf.

Trump aides joke that they wish their boss would spend more time at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where they say the president appears more relaxed and at ease. He dispensed hugs and kisses to female guests attending a Red Cross ball at the estate last week, and is scheduled to return this weekend for a round of golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Most of those interviewed for this story requested anonymity to describe the inner workings of a White House where they say the tension has been intensified by the president’s propensity for knee-jerk micromanaging when faced with disappointment, and jockeying among aides to avoid blame or claim credit when possible.

The interviews paint a picture of a powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high. Two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks.

In Washington circles, talk has turned to whether a staff shake-up is in the works.

One person close to Trump said: "I think he'd like to do it now, but he knows it's too soon."

Those closest to the president are unnerved by that prospect, which they say would be a tacit acknowledgment that their team is struggling.

Kushner, who is among Trump’s most trusted advisers, has been incensed by reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has ripped the White House over its implementation of Trump’s executive order restricting travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, could want a job in the White House as part of a "second wave" of staffers that will replace initial hires. While Christie hasn't said he wants a job, the rumor has been fanned by his allies. Kushner has long had tensions with Christie and played a key role in blocking him from getting a senior job in the administration.

Some staffers worry about running afoul of Kushner, and say they’re unclear about his role, describing his portfolio as amorphous. “No one quite knows what it is,” said one. “It’s confusing.”

Perhaps the job Trump has micromanaged the most is that of press secretary Sean Spicer, whose performance as the public face of the White House hasn’t always pleased the image-conscious president.
Spicer loses his cool with the press

Trump, a voracious consumer of cable news, has been known to critique aides and surrogates for their appearances. After Spicer’s press briefings, the president has told his spokesman that he’s unhappy about specific answers or his demeanor.

The president, who is obsessive about looks and appearance, even was unhappy with a Saturday Night Live parody of a Spicer briefing, partly because the combative press secretary was depicted by a female comedian, Melissa McCarthy. After it aired, Spicer had proposed cracking a joke about the send-up during his next briefing, or even firing a squirt gun, as McCarthy had done in the sketch. Trump vetoed the idea, according to one person briefed on the matter.

Spicer, a 45-year-old party operative who rose through the ranks of the Republican National Committee, has told several people that he finds the non-stop demands of the position difficult.

For now, the president is standing by his press secretary. After CNN reported Tuesday that Trump regretted hiring Spicer and was disappointed in him, the president spoke with his press secretary and told him that he was in fine shape. Trump, who has been reluctant to admit any missteps, also has acknowledged to Spicer that it was a mistake to send him to the White House briefing room on the administration’s first full day to berate reporters for coverage of his inauguration crowd size.

For all of Trump’s frustrations about staff drama however, it isn’t clear they’re going away any time soon. Tensions remain between the staffs of chief of staff Reince Priebus and Bannon. Priebus’s advisers blamed Bannon’s team for the botched rollout of the travel ban executive order, saying that they hadn’t done the needed legwork ahead of time.
Kellyanne Conway promoted Ivanka Trump's business from the White House.

And some were surprised that first lady Melania Trump decided to hire Lindsey Reynolds as her chief of staff along with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff as her senior adviser. Reynolds and Wolkoff worked on the inauguration planning team, and Reynolds, a Republican fundraiser and event planner, abruptly quit before Inauguration Day. At the time, several people attributed her departure to “personality conflicts” with Wolkoff, a Trump family friend who has overseen the Met Gala.

There are indications, however, that the new White House team is moving forward – and looking for reinforcements, among other ways to calm the waters.

Trump's top aides and allies are frantically searching for help for Spicer in the form of a communications director, a demanding role Spicer has been juggling along with his press secretary duties.

On Wednesday, some of Trump’s top advisers met with James Baker, a Republican Party statesman who was chief of staff in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and talked things over.

If the opening days of Trump’s presidency have been rocky and unconventional, many of his admirers aren’t bothered by it.

“I'm not disappointed in the President's work so far - he operates like many great CEO's I know - and I hope he continues to manage the country in a manner worlds apart from the way we've seen in the past,” said Michael Caputo, who was a Trump campaign aide. “It's about time.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879