Whatever adults were in the room at the outset of Donald Trump's presidency are now gone, replaced mostly by sycophants of similar age and disposition to Trump. That and the fact that former communications director Hope Hicks exited fully two month ago has led to a Trump "unplugged" scenario in his second year in office that has been startlingly unhinged even by Trumpian standards, writes the Washington Post.
The president also has unofficially performed the roles of many other senior staffers in recent months, leaving the people holding those jobs to execute on his instincts and ideas.
And that’s exactly how Trump likes his West Wing.
Largely gone are the warring factions that dominated life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the first year of Trump’s term, replaced by solo players — many with personal connections to the president and their own miniature fiefdoms — laboring to do their jobs and survive.
Of course, just because the White House is functioning exactly as Trump would like, that's no guarantee of policy successes. Gas prices are spiking across the nation, the escalating trade war with China could prove disastrous for farm country, and Trump's much touted North Korea summit is anyone's guess at the moment. In other words, Trump's special brand of bluster could simply result in an epic migraine for whoever survives into next year.
“Last year was the year of adjustment. He was constrained by an axis of adults and adjusting to be president,” said Thomas Wright, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “This year is the year of action. He’s giving the orders, even if there’s resistance.
“Next year,” he continued, “is the hangover year, the year of living with the consequences.”
We’re all going to be living with those consequences, but that hangover will feel a lot different if Democrats are in charge of the House.
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