As President Donald Trump has dug his feet in following his initial failure to fully denounce white nationalists after a car attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump has been acting out of anger and has become increasingly isolated in the White House this week.
After his initial statement failed to offer a full-throated condemnation of white nationalist and other hate groups, Trump was pressured by his aides to follow up with a more forceful statement. But after doing so, the President became angry and suspicious about attempts to control his messaging, prompting him to follow up with an impromptu news conference Tuesday that went off the rails when he blamed both sides for the violence in Charlottesville, Politico reported.
Trump felt vindicated following that presser, according to the Washington Post.
The President’s anger over the past few days has been apparent. As business leaders fled White House advisory panels over Trump’s Charlottesville response, Trump responded by abruptly announcing on Twitter that the jobs panels would be disbanded. This came only after he personally attacked the first CEO to quit his manufacturing council, and threatened that he could easily replace any other CEOs who quit the panels.
He also has lashed out at his critics in the Republican Party, aiming angry tweets at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on Thursday morning.
Trump’s outburst and resulting press conference blaming both the “alt-right” and that he called the “alt-left” for the violence in Charlottesville has left his newly-minted chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, “dismayed,” the Washington Post reported. Trump’s Tuesday press conference and frustration with his aides’ opinions on how he should respond to the Charlottesville attack has left him “further isolated,” according to the newspaper.
While the President defiantly stews in his own anger, his staff has become increasingly wary of remaining in the administration, though most have come to the conclusion that now is not the time to leave, according to the Washington Post and CNN.
Gary Cohn, the top economic advisor to Trump, who is Jewish, was very upset with Trump’s comments on the attack, but he has not threatened to resign, the Post reported, citing unnamed people close to Cohn.
CNN reported that White House aides have been sorting through whether to leave Trump’s administration, but that most had decided that leaving now would only hurt them.
