Okay, so we’ve heard rumors since the spring about this or that Cabinet member getting tossed under the Trump Bus. In his first term the firings/’resignations’ were a fire hose of departures. This time around it’s been a different story. Trump it seems doesn’t want to get heckled for having made a bad pick for a top job. Despite numerous top officials doing things that would have gotten them fired in any other administration (including Trump’s first) Trump has stubbornly refused to toss anyone off the sinking Trumptantic.
Still, it’s been an article of faith that sooner or later Trump would relent and fire someone. The speculation has been on which person it would be. Let’s face it, there are multiple candidates and I’m sure Vegas odds makers have betting lines on who will be first, second and so on. According to an article from Knewz Trump’s been mulling over a more substantial house cleaning.
I’m not holding my breath, but Trump craves not just attention but praise. He fears a PR hit if he fires someone because critics will make fun of him for having hired this or that incompetent asshat in the first place. On the other hand, his approval ratings on every issue are underwater and have cratered in some areas. What’s got to be worrying him the most is that even on immigration which he rode to a second term he’s now underwater. Worse, even MAGAs are waking up to the fact that after a year, the cost of living which he promised to “fix” on “day one” hasn’t improved. If anything things have gotten worse for average Americans.
Trump can shout ‘FAKE NEWS’ all he wants but he knows damn good and well his approval ratings are bad. Worse, they are dragging down other Republicans. At some point you have to figure he’ll finally realize a few days or so of “Trump Caved” headlines about this or that cabinet member will be better than a year of crappy ratings leading to an electoral bloodbath in the midterms. He’s probably already resigned to losing the House but the Senate? It’s still a tough task but it’s now genuinely possible and loss of the Senate means confirmation of unqualified, incompetent hacks is over. Not to mention the possibility of another humiliating round of impeachment.
That’s why, while I take the premise of the linked article with a big grain of salt I’m not dismissing it either. Truly bold action might, might actually plug some of the holes in the sinking Trumptanic and the GOP ‘Tender’ ship. (A Tender is a Navy ship that carries supplies and specialized at-sea repair capability for the fighting ships) Actually getting rid of several of his idiotic hires in short-order is the smartest thing he could do, and that’s why rumors it’s being considered matter:
Speculation over whether Trump will overhaul his Cabinet and White House staff has been swirling for weeks now as his second administration has been plagued by numerous scandals — from the Department of Justice’s botched release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and a critical interview from Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to rising tensions with U.S. allies and ongoing scrutiny over the behavior of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I think we will see some senior advisors in the West Wing leave,” CBS News’ senior White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs recently said.
So maybe, even hopefully that ‘overhaul’ will take place. However there are a couple of caveats. Let’s start with what the reporter cited went on to say:
While Jacobs noted Trump’s “main pack” of Cabinet-level officials and senior staffers including Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt would likely remain at their posts, others may be at risk of losing their jobs.
I could write entire separate articles about Leavitt and Weiss but Stephen Miller surviving a purge is the most appalling reality we have to deal with. Trump is known to have complained “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” Maybe he doesn’t realize it but ever since then Senator Jeff Sessions loaned then senior aid to a flailing Trump campaign in 2015 Miller HAS been Trump Roy Cohn. If anything Miller is even worse! If Trump proverbially burns the current administration to ashes what will rise up is not a Phoenix, but Stephen Miller.
So IF there’s a major shakeup two of the most important pieces, Weiss and Cohn (and probably Leavitt) aren’t going anywhere. That’s bad. The other caveat is noted elsewhere in Knewz’ article. Yes, Hegseth, Bondi, Noem and Patel are likely candidates for the chopping block and if Homan can’t restore ICE’s image (could anyone Trump knows?) – there’s still the literal bag of $50K cash bribe the FBI agents used in a bribery sting operation that neither he or Patel will answer questions about. (That $50k was taxpayer money!) You can probably think of others. Here’s the problem:
“[Trump] doesn’t like to be pressured to get rid of anybody,” CBS News’ chief Washington, D.C., analyst Robert Costa said.
“But there are so many people in the so-called MAGA universe who want these slots, and they are able to get access to these officials,” he added.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out, based on my reporting,” Costa concluded.
It’s a case of be careful what you wish for. People we are talking about were Trump’s top choices. If they were the best he could come up with I shudder at thought of how bad those that got passed over might be! Well, that’s another subject that merits a separate and more detailed discussion. For now it seems that if not likely, the possibility of a ‘bigly major’ shakeup of Trump 2.0 is being considered.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
He’ll only do what Vlad tells him to do.
“If they were the best he could come up with I shudder at thought of how bad those that got passed over might be!” Bet he knows it and, more so, if he can find/inveigle anyone of competence to act as a replacement, he fears that very competence will act as a blocker rather than enabler. Of course, by definition, anyone of competence would not come within a bargepole of this foundering ship of state.