While it is obvious that President Trump has spent the first 45 days of his administration battling both Democrats and the corporate media, the billionaire president’s biggest obstacles are coming from within.
As with everything Trump does, even his conflicts are atypical.
First, President Trump is dealing with the Deep State. It may be better stated that the Deep State is dealing with President Trump.
This is not to be taken lightly as it’s clear that in this case, the Deep State is chockfull of government holdovers and employees from the Obama Administration.
But that is nothing new.
Throughout Grover Cleveland’s two terms in office, he struggled with federal employees and the new Pendleton Act that prevented government employees from being fired by a new president due to party loyalty or affiliation.
Cleveland believed that civil service was a privilege and like Thomas Jefferson, favored rotation of government workers. While it took time, the 22nd (and 24th) President of the United States slowly but surely fired disloyal government workers.
If you dig into the details of recent history, you’ll remember the obstruction of George W. Bush’s first term that seemed chaotic until he displayed the leadership that the nation needed after the attacks of September 11th.
In Trump’s case, his problem with the Deep State may be the worst we’ve seen in the history of our republic.
While it’s acceptable for government workers to hold dissenting views from the President, it is not acceptable or common for federal employees to break law and meddle with the release of state secrets just to embarrass or disrupt a sitting president.
And when it does happen, it has the potential to be devastating to the nation. Just look at Richard Nixon who was forced to resign after the meddling of a top official within the FBI (Deepthroat).
Although the woes of Deep State disruption are beyond concerning, they could be addressed by a functional leadership staff within the White House.
And that’s the second group that is working against Trump . . .
While they have good intentions, the internal conflicts within the Executive Office of the President are only providing fuel to the fire of the media’s ongoing bonfire of the Trump Administration.
Today’s headlines of massive internal chaos, while certainly overblown, do carry some truths.
If you read between the headlines and are familiar with some of the players, you will find two camps within senior leadership of the White House: the Party Players and Mercer’s Mercenaries.
Reince Prebius, Sean Spicer, et al, of course are the Party Players while Conway and Bannon were installed by Rebekah Mercer whose influence comes from her billionaire father’s bank account.
While it’s unlikely the two sides are engaged in an all-out battle, it’s clear that they are constantly jockeying for position and influence to President Trump while Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner play the role of issue-based floaters (and oddly voices of reason despite their inexperience in government and politics).
There is no greater evidence of the discord than in today’s headlines on the Drudge Report.
Mercer’s camp was able to secure the headline of “Knives out for Reince,” while the Party Players placed the headline directly below it about Trump’s “Furious argument with Bannon.”
Neither headline should exist and instead, the nation would be better served with this imaginary headline: “After Mass Firings Across Government, White House Staff Leads Obamacare Repeal and Budget Cuts.”
President Trump is best served by people who place their loyalty to the interests of the nation above their desire to accrue more access and power for themselves.
Make no mistake, Reince, Bannon, Conway and others are quality people. They are incredibly hard workers who are caught up in an environment of uncertainty and reacting to their perception of standing in the White House pecking order.
But if they were to study Trump and his history with executives and employees, he’s a man who favors achievement over anything else. Those who are wasting time attempting to be the one whispering into the President’s ear, would be far better served being the one who gets things done.
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