What Happens When No One Is Running the White House
The president ignores most issues. The chief of staff goes rogue on a few. This won’t end well.
Mick Mulvaney pursues his agenda, taking advantage of the president’s mental absence.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images
It’s time for an update on how Donald Trump’s terrible management skills are undermining his presidency. Here’s the Mick Mulvaney edition – which could turn out to be the worst yet.
Earlier in his presidency, Trump’s loose management style made it seem likely he would wind up with the kinds of problems that plagued Jimmy Carter and, early in his presidency, Bill Clinton. Without a strong chief of staff, his White House would be vulnerable to all sorts of chaos. This is in fact what happened while Reince Priebus held the title, but not the traditional authority and responsibilities, of chief of staff. To some extent things improved when John Kelly held the position, but ultimately Kelly was defeated by the president and the job, and wound up surrendering back to the chaos.