Did anyone seriously expect Donald Trump to play nicely with the Republican National Committee just because he needs their field and data expertise? Because he’s not, according to entirely believable reports:
In recent days, RNC chairman Reince Priebus has privately grumbled that his advice doesn’t seem welcome with Trump, according to one RNC insider. Other party officials have expressed frustration that Trump’s campaign is trying to take too much control over a pair of fundraising committees with the party while adding little to the effort, according to campaign and party officials familiar with the relationship.
While Trump had promised Priebus that he would call two dozen top GOP donors, when RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh recently presented Trump with a list of more than 20 donors, he called only three before stopping, according to two sources familiar with the situation. It’s unclear whether he resumed the donor calls later.
Ha ha ha. No, Reince, no one sees Donald Trump taking your advice very often at all. Or calling a whole lot of rich people—people perhaps less wealthy than he claims to be, but wealthier than he actually is—to grovel for money. Team Trump, meanwhile, is sending mixed messages:
“I don’t think we are going to take a lot of political advice from Priebus,” a campaign official said. “From my perspective, we should not be relying on the RNC for much, because I’m not sure they are fully supportive yet,” the campaign official said, adding “but we hope and expect to soon be on the exact same page.”
The Trump campaign will take the RNC’s advice when the RNC is a Trump subsidiary with no independence. Got that? On the other hand:
One Trump Tower official called it “a great relationship. I work well with everybody over there and I haven’t heard of anyone who doesn’t have a great relationship with them.”
Okay, suspicious. Either that’s such a dedicated Trump employee that s/he has learned to talk like the boss, or … that “Trump Tower official” wasn’t going by the name of John Barron or John Miller, was he? It’s a great relationship, the very best relationship, the strongest relationship. Just don’t expect Donald Trump to take any damn advice from Reince Priebus.