White House Divisions Deepen As Trump Fumes Over Perceived Slights

The creative tension that Donald Trump is said to encourage among his staff appears to have taken a more tumultuous turn in recent days as the White House struggles to stabilize in the wake of an unusually volatile weekend, during which Trump repeatedly chided the press for accurately reporting the size of his inauguration crowd.

 As The Washington Post reports, the president “feels demoralized that the public’s perception of his presidency so far does not necessarily align with his own sense of accomplishment.” When the media began harping on the relatively low turnout for his inauguration speech Friday, especially compared to the massive protests the following day, Trump reportedly demanded a response from Sean Spicer, his White House press secretary. But journalists weren’t the only ones who derided Spicer’s poorly received rebuttal. While reporters attacked Spicer for sowing disinformation about Trump’s crowd sizes (and then not taking any questions), Trump reportedly disparaged him for the unflattering optics. Nearly a dozen sources close to the president told the Post that Trump was disappointed in Spicer, who he thought was too restrained and looked unprofessional in an oversize pinstripe jacket.

Spicer reportedly earned back some respect from Trump after delivering a more composed follow-up presser on Monday—but he still might be headed for the chopping block. On Tuesday, Mike Allen of Axios reported that one top White House official was already discussing a potential press secretary replacement as a result of Saturday’s disaster, which might have confirmed a number of reservations Trump had about Spicer previously. According to the Post, Trump was hesitant to name Spicer to the top communications role at first, as “he did not see Spicer as particularly telegenic and preferred a woman for the position.” And in Trump’s circle, where loyalty is the No. 1 currency, Spicer—unlike Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, and Jared Kushner—was brought in by former R.N.C. chair Reince Priebus and doesn’t have a long history with Trump. He also may not project the confident image Trump wants for the public face of his White House. As Maggie Haberman of The New York Times noted on Twitter, the president wanted Spicer “to be in command/project strength. He did neither . . . [H]e wanted Spicer to be a derivative of himself.”

Trump’s rocky first weekend in office has reportedly exacerbated tensions elsewhere in Trumpworld, too. Brad Pascale, a Kushner confidant who served as the data and digital strategist on the Trump campaign, has reportedly come up against G.O.P. mega-donor Rebekah Mercer—who was behind the campaign shake-up that brought Conway and Bannon on board last summer—over what data company the team should use for its operation outside of the White House to bolster Trump’s support. And Kushner himself has emerged as a source of some tension within the ranks. According to the Post, “a number of Trump’s most loyal campaign aides have been alarmed by Kushner’s efforts to elbow aside anyone he perceives as a possible threat to his role as Trump’s chief consigliere,” and he reportedly opposed Trump giving Conway a role in the White House.

Conway’s role has also come under scrutiny as her profile has risen. Despite taking over top Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett’s office, one source suggested to the Post that the distance between her office and the president’s is indicative of her “diminished standing.” (Trump, meanwhile, reportedly called Vice President Mike Pence to extol Conway’s “alternative facts” face-off with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press and offered her effusive praise onstage at a black-tie dinner on the eve of the inauguration.) Reports have swirled that there is discord among Trump’s closest advisers—Kushner, Bannon, Priebus, and Conway—notably between the latter. But Conway dismissed the rumors to the Post, characterizing the inner circle as a “cohesive unit” and arguing that Priebus “has a very good way of choosing battles wisely, which is a hallmark of a real leader and manager.”