Yesterday, President Trump held the first full meeting of his Cabinet, and it included perhaps the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen in American politics:
At Monday’s Cabinet meeting — the first President Trump had held with everyone on board — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus spoke up to thank Trump “for the opportunity and blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda and the American people.”
Priebus said he was offering words on behalf of everyone in the room. But one by one, pretty much everyone else seated around the table took the opportunity to lavish their leader with praise, too, as the media looked on.
“It’s an honor to be able to serve you,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“I am privileged to be here,” said Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. “Deeply honored.”
“What an incredible honor it is to lead the Department of Health and Human Services at this pivotal time under your leadership,” Tom Price, secretary of that department, added when it was his turn to speak. “I can’t thank you enough for the privileges you’ve given me and the leadership that you’ve shown.”
When other Cabinet members got the opportunity, they offered more specific adulation. Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, thanked the president for his “direction in pulling that budget together.”
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao thanked Trump for visiting her department last week, relaying that “hundreds and hundreds of people were just so thrilled.”
And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, after noting that some of his colleagues had touted their international travels for Trump, served up this: “A lot of us just got back from Mississippi. They love you there.”
The over-the-top praise of the president by his Cabinet came as the biggest items on his legislative agenda have made little progress, his administration continues to be dogged by investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia, and his disapproval rating in the latest Gallup tracking poll rose to 59 percent.
The effort to buck up the boss drew immediate notice on social media, with some comparing Trump to King Lear. In the opening of the Shakespeare play, the aging king of Britain, having decided to step down from the throne, asks his three daughters to tell him how much they love him.
Here’s some video of the proceeding:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had some fun with the event:
GREAT meeting today with the best staff in the history of the world!!! pic.twitter.com/ocE1xhEAac
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 12, 2017
It also brought to mind this scene from the original version of The Manchurian Candidate:
The only Cabinet member who didn’t join in the Trump hagiography was Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who chose instead to say that it was an honor him to represent and lead the men and women in uniform who defend the country. Everyone else, from Secretary of State Tillerson and Reince Priebus to the lowest-ranking Cabinet member responded to their own version of obsequiousness toward Trump that is really just nauseating. These aren’t doe-eyed young staffers we’re dealing with here, but experienced men and women who have long careers in business and politics that pre-date their service in Trump’s Cabinet. The fact that they are willing to bow down to a President like this is embarrassing and silly. Unfortunately, it also seems to be the price for the supposed privilege of serving The Donald.
Interestingly, this happened at the same time that Politico is reporting that Trump has given Reince Priebus until July 4th to “clean up” a White House that is becoming increasingly dysfunctional:
President Donald Trump has set a deadline of July 4 for a shakeup of the White House that could include removing Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, according to two administration officials and three outside advisers familiar with the matter.
Although Trump has set deadlines for staff changes before, only to let them pass without pulling the trigger, the president is under more scrutiny than ever regarding the sprawling Russia investigation, which is intensifying the pressure on his White House team.
President Donald Trump has set a deadline of July 4 for a shakeup of the White House that could include removing Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, according to two administration officials and three outside advisers familiar with the matter.
Although Trump has set deadlines for staff changes before, only to let them pass without pulling the trigger, the president is under more scrutiny than ever regarding the sprawling Russia investigation, which is intensifying the pressure on his White House team.
Days after his return from his first foreign trip late last month, Trump berated Priebus in the Oval Office in front of his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie for the dysfunction in the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversation.
Trump had been mulling bringing on Bossie as his deputy White House chief of staff and Lewandowski as a White House senior adviser with a portfolio that includes Russia, but he told the two at that meeting that they would not be joining the White House until Priebus had a fair chance to clean up shop, according to the sources.
“I’m giving you until July 4,” Trump said, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.
“I don’t want them to come into this mess. If I’m going to clean house, they will come in as fresh blood.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in a statement on Sunday, disputed the idea that Priebus is facing a July 4 deadline. “Whoever is saying that is either a liar or out of the loop,” Spicer said.
The Independence Day deadline is timed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s deadline for passage of the health care bill through the chamber, which is also the start of the July 4th recess. Priebus took the brunt of the blame for the first failure to get a vote on the bill through the House, though the White House and Speaker Paul Ryan were ultimately able to secure its passage on a second try.
Talk of Trump’s July 4 deadline has made the rounds in the White House, but insiders and those close to the president are not holding their breath, given the perpetual talk that Priebus and other senior staffers are on the way out.
Trump’s first deadline for the firing of Priebus — and many staffers he brought on from the Republican National Committee — was the 100-day mark.
The president then considered the idea of a Memorial Day shakeup when he returned from the foreign trip.
“It’s become comical that every holiday becomes a referendum on Reince,” said one adviser to the president.
Sensing his impending doom even before he was criticized for fallout related to the firing of FBI Director James Comey, Priebus had joked, “I’ve got one foot on a banana peel and another out the door,” according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.
Deadlines haven’t been Trump’s only tactic for warning Priebus about his possible dismissal from the top of the administration.
Trump has openly floated the idea of other potential chiefs of staff, including former campaign aide David Urban and Wayne Berman, an executive at private equity giant Blackstone and adviser to Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman. Shortly after national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired in February, Trump invited New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the White House to help brainstorm about a new chief of staff, according to a White House official and outside adviser with knowledge of the situation.
But those who have known Trump for years, such as his former campaign adviser Sam Nunberg, say the “You’re fired” persona associated with his “Apprentice” fame doesn’t match up with the man away from the cameras.
“I don’t think he likes to gratuitously fire people,” said Nunberg, who was himself fired by Trump. “He wants to give people chances.”
(…)
a former campaign official said Priebus has been more effective in recent weeks in bringing order to the White House, despite the chaos outside, including Comey’s dramatic testimony before the Senate last week and Trump’s subsequent accusations against him.
“For the first time in the White House, there’s true structure and discipline and order instilled, despite other distractions that might be out there,” the former official said.
“They are getting down to the work of governing and moving the ball forward.”
The biggest problem that Priebus faces, of course, is Trump himself. More than once, the White House has started out the week attempting to focus its messaging on a given policy topic only to see it derailed by events completely out of the control of Priebus or any of his staffers. Most of them time, this happens thanks to something that the President himself has tweeted or the fallout from one of those tweets. Last week, for example, was supposed to be about the Administration’s infrastructure plan, which still hasn’t been introduced or put in any form that can be presented to Congress. Instead of focusing on infrastructure, though, the White House found itself having to respond to questions about things the President said either on Twitter or in off-hand remarks to the press as well as the testimony of former F.B.I. Director last Thursday. This was only the latest example of a White House staff that has been taken off track from doing its job thanks to things the President has said or done, something that has been a common theme during the 144 days that he has been in office. The difficulty of moving anything forward under those conditions should be obvious, and no change in personnel in charge at the White House or changes to the communications team is going to be able to do any better absent a change in behavior by the man at the top. Since that seems unlikely, I wouldn’t expect any change in personnel to lead to better results for an Administration that appears to be doing worse in its opening months than any in recent memory. Although you wouldn’t know that from the effusive praise we heard yesterday.
