Monday, December 10, 2018

Could Trump Name Lewandowski His New Chief of Staff?

With John Kelly to be out as White House Chief of Staff at the end of the year, President Trump wasted no time taking to Twitter to say that he would soon name a successor not named Nick Ayers:


I am in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position of White House Chief of Staff. Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our agenda. I will be making a decision soon!


Trump was referring to a New York Times profile of Ayers last month which documented Vice-President Pence's Chief of Staff ascension into Trump's inner circle and speculated he would succeed Kelly. Well, it wasn't quite fake news. Trump offered the position to Ayers who declined. An ambitious man like Ayers sees the Trump presidency as a sinking ship and wisely declined to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.


So who will be Trump's fourth Chief of Staff in under two years in office? Fox News lists the likes of Congressman and House Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Trump Deputy Campaign Manager David Bossie as possible successors. According to MSNBC, who largely concur with Fox, it could also be New York Yankees President Randy Levine. Well, I suppose if one could work for the late George Steinbrenner then it is entirely possible one could work with President Trump.


If I were to venture a guess as to who Trump will pick it would be former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. With Mueller closing in, Trump is probably feeling like Michael Corleone in The Godfather and wants "a wartime consigliere". If Trump is in that frame of mind then he is going to choose someone as reckless as he is. That's where Lewandowski comes in. It was just a few days ago that Lewandowski nearly got into a fistfight with two top Florida Republicans after claiming that Trump had saved their slate of candidates in last month's mid-terms. To rational people, Lewandowski would be a hot head to be avoided and shunned. But to Trump, Lewandowski's acts are a sign of strength. Appointing Lewandowski would send a signal to his supporters of his defiance in the face of Mueller.


The only potential obstacle to bringing back Lewandowski would be Ivanka Trump who gave him the ultimatum to lose him or lose her in June 2016. But by this spring, Lewandowski had reemerged as a frequent White House visitor, passenger on Air Force One and a part of Trump rallies. Lewandowski would not only run through a wall for Trump, but he would rebuild and pay for it. So it would not shock me in the least if Trump were to formally bring Lewandowski back. Of course it would be absolutely foolish and self-destructive. But this is Trump were talking about after all.

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