Trump Sort of Goes to Bat for John Kelly After Negative Report - Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

April 8, 2018
2:58 pm
Trump Sort of Goes to Bat for John Kelly After Negative Report
By
Benjamin Hart
@realaxelfoley

Are we having fun yet? Photo: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump and one of his advisers want you to think that Chief of Staff John Kelly isn’t in danger of losing his job. There is reason to doubt their credibility.

On Saturday, the Washington Post published a thorough chronicling of Kelly’s White House downfall, from buck-stops-here enforcer to just another ineffectual observer of Trump’s capricious rule. Among other details: Kelly recently blew up at Trump in the Oval Office, and regularly threatens to quit a job he never much liked — though Trump may dispatch him before he follows through on that threat.

Trump responded as you might expect, attacking the Post for its reporting while avoiding an actual Kelly endorsement.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage - more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!

9:58 PM - Apr 8, 2018

Post reporters defending their story, which was based on interviews with 16 (yes, 16) sources.

Josh Dawsey
✔
@jdawsey1
 Here's the link to the story, which we of course extensively reviewed with the White House before publication, checking facts and asking for comment repeatedly. Kelly and POTUS did not want to comment. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/when-you-lose-that-power-how-john-kelly-faded-as-white-house-disciplinarian/2018/04/07/5e5b8b42-39be-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpkelly-540pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory … https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/982950739441004544 …

11:03 PM - Apr 8, 2018 · Washington, DC

‘When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian
The chief of staff grew so frustrated when President Trump fired the Veteran Affairs secretary that other Cabinet members tried to calm him, according to people with knowledge of the incident.

washingtonpost.com

On Meet the Press Sunday morning, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro went farther than his boss in defending Kelly, claiming that the chief of staff still “has the confidence” of the president.

“You read stuff in the Washington Post, frankly that’s fake news most of the time,” Navarro said, to Chuck Todd’s consternation.

Meet the Press
✔
@MeetThePress
 WATCH: Navarro characterizes Washington Post story on Kelly as "fake news"

Navarro: "it's not a cheap shot" to call the story "fake news"

11:49 PM - Apr 8, 2018

(Why Navarro has the authority or knowledge to comment on personnel matters is a mystery. It’s the same kind of Trump White House role-scrambling that led Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin to weigh in on neo-Nazis.)

Trump’s nonendorsement endorsement signifies very little about Kelly’s future, given that the president has pulled similar tricks with multiple now-former staffers. For example, he denied that National Security adviser H.R. McMaster was in danger of losing his job and even told him he was doing a “great job” three weeks before getting rid of him.

The president is even more enthusiastic about another embattled official: Scott Pruitt. On Saturday night, Trump tweeted his enthusiasm for the EPA Administrator, who is facing multiple ethics-related scandals.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!

10:03 AM - Apr 8, 2018

While even this level of ardor does not guarantee job security, Trump’s tepid feelings toward Kelly may well be the kiss of death.