Reporters have been writing glowing articles about Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles, praising her ability to keep Trump in line by blocking the cast of freaks Trump pals around with from having his ear.
CNN reported that Wiles has been successful at “instilling a level of discipline and order rarely associated with the former president” and that before taking the role she got “assurances from Trump that she would have more authority than her predecessors in controlling access to the Oval Office.”
The Hill newspaper reported that Wiles will succeed because she is “a savvy political player who is also able to navigate the many clashing personalities that come with campaigns.”
Yet a little more than a week since he was elected, Wiles already appears to have lost control.
On Wednesday, Trump nominated accused child sex trafficker and alleged illicit drug user Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. Politico reported that Trump decided to nominate Gaetz after having a conversation with Trump lackey Boris Epshteyn, while Wiles was in another room
The nomination has angered Republican lawmakers, many of whom loathe Gaetz for being a sleazeball and an instigator who many say is only out for himself.
"Matt Gaetz will not be confirmed in the Senate,” Ohio GOP Rep. Max Miller said Wednesday. “He’s somebody who should not be the Attorney General. I can tell you, I'm not the only one out of 200 House Republicans that is happy he is leaving this conference."
Trump on Wednesday also nominated former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Gabbard is basically a Russian asset who sympathizes with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Syrian genocidal maniac Bashar al-Assad.
"I thought it was the worst cabinet-level appointment in history until I heard about the Matt Gaetz appointment,” former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said on CNN Thursday morning, of Gabbard’s nomination.
While it’s unclear whether Wiles is okay with Trump choosing Gabbard, she did lose control of the announcement. Rather than Trump announcing Gabbard’s pick himself, infamous crook and Trump pal Roger Stone leaked the news of her nomination in an appearance on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' now-defunct Infowars show.
“Alex, I think we've just broken this news,” Stone said on Jones’ show. “The president, I'm told, will be posting it momentarily. He sent it to me very kindly as a courtesy, because he knows that I'm a great friend and admirer of Tulsi Gabbard, and I could not be happier than I am in this moment.”
If Wiles can’t control Trump before his tenure even begins, it’s unclear how long she’ll last in the White House.
Trump cycled through four chiefs of staff his first go round, with none of the four able to keep Trump in line. Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, lasted just six months before Trump fired him by tweet.
Retired Gen. John Kelly lasted longer at 17 months. But his time with Trump was so bad that Kelly has since come out to say Trump is a fascist and doesn't have the character to be president.
And Mark Meadows, Trump's final chief of staff, finds himself in legal trouble from his time as Trump's chief when Trump illegally attempted to stay in power after losing the 2020 election—an effort that culminated in a violent and deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
All that's to say, Wiles can't control Trump. No one can. And with things going this far off the rails this early, it's time we get out the lettuce to see whether Wiles or the leafy green vegetable lasts longer.
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