{"id":1068,"date":"2018-06-10T21:11:33","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T01:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1068"},"modified":"2018-06-10T21:11:33","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T01:11:33","slug":"white-house-memo-drama-action-emotional-power-as-exhausted-aides-eye-the-exits-trump-is-re-energized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1068","title":{"rendered":"White House Memo: \u2018Drama, Action, Emotional Power\u2019: As Exhausted Aides Eye the Exits, Trump Is Re-energized"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0Maggie Haberman<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Katie Rogers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Several high-profile aides, including John F. Kelly, the president\u2019s chief of staff, are said to be thinking about how much longer they can do their jobs.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Tom Brenner\/The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n
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WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump has gone overseas to embark on some of the most consequential diplomatic negotiations of his tenure, threatening an all-out trade war with allies and seizing a chance to make peace with a nuclear-armed menace.<\/p>\n

But back home, he left behind a West Wing where burned-out aides are\u00a0eyeing the exits<\/a>, as the mood in the White House is one of numbness and resignation that the president is growing only more emboldened to act on instinct alone.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump, a former reality television star, may soon be working with a thinned-out cast in the middle of Season 2, well before the midterm elections. Several high-profile aides, including\u00a0John F. Kelly<\/a>, the president\u2019s chief of staff, and Joe Hagin, a deputy of Mr. Kelly\u2019s, are said to be thinking about how much longer they can stay. Last week, Mr. Kelly told visiting senators that the White House was \u201ca miserable place to work,\u201d according to a person with direct knowledge of the comment.<\/p>\n

The turnover, which is expected to become an exodus after the November elections, does not worry the president, several people close to him said. He has grown comfortable with removing any barriers that might challenge him \u2014 including, in some cases, people who have the wrong chemistry or too frequently say no to him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Trump, who\u00a0desires a measure of chaos<\/a>\u00a0at all times, is reveling in the effects of his own mercurial decision-making, the people said.<\/p>\n

Stephen K. Bannon, the president\u2019s former chief strategist, said in an interview that Mr. Trump\u2019s love of conflict had driven his approach to the presidency. \u201cThis is how he won,\u201d Mr. Bannon said. \u201cThis is how he governs, and this is his \u2018superpower.\u2019 Drama, action, emotional power.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mr. Trump believes that he is gaining ground by trying to set the terms of news coverage around a number of issues affecting his White House, according to interviews with a dozen White House advisers, former aides and people close to the president. He has repeatedly promoted his performance at the one-year and 500-day milestones of his term, sowed confusion about\u00a0his knowledge of hush payments<\/a>\u00a0to a pornographic film actress, and disparaged the special counsel\u2019s Russia investigation, as well as railed against trade imbalances and scored\u00a0a once-unthinkable meeting with the North Korean leader<\/a>, to be held Tuesday in Singapore.<\/p>\n

His daily torrent of Twitter posts about the Russia inquiry, interpreted by his critics as distress signals, is more often than not a sign that he is less worried about the consequences of using the blunt force of his platform to fight back, according to three advisers.<\/p>\n

People who did not work with Mr. Trump before the White House see his behavior as deteriorating; people who have worked for and with him for years say he has never changed, and there are simply fewer people around giving him a level of cover.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n