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Politico: Trump surprised that government can’t be run like his business, aides say

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C

chadskin

Member
-> http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879

Being president is harder than Donald Trump thought, according to aides and allies who say that he's growing increasingly frustrated with the challenges of running the massive federal bureaucracy.

In interviews, nearly two dozen people who've spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration said that his mood has careened between surprise and anger as he's faced the predictable realities of governing, from congressional delays over his cabinet nominations and legal fights holding up his aggressive initiatives to staff in-fighting and leaks.

The administration's rocky opening days have been a setback for a president who, as a billionaire businessman, sold himself to voters as being uniquely qualified to fix what ailed the nation. Yet it has become apparent, say those close to the president, most of whom requested anonymity to describe the inner workings of the White House, that the transition from overseeing a family business to running the country has been tough on him.

Trump often asks simple questions about policies, proposals and personnel. And, when discussions get bogged down in details, the president has been known to quickly change the subject — to "seem in control at all times," one senior government official said — or direct questions about details to his chief strategist Steve Bannon, his son-in-law Jared Kushner or House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump has privately expressed disbelief over the ability of judges, bureaucrats or lawmakers to delay — or even stop — him from filling positions and implementing policies.

After Trump grew infuriated by disclosures of his confrontational phone calls with foreign leaders, an investigation was launched into the source of the leaks, according to one White House aide. National Security Council staffers have been instructed to cooperate with inquiries, including requests to inspect their electronic communications, said two sources familiar with the situation. It's not clear whether the investigation is a formal proceeding, how far along it is or who is conducting it.

The administration is considering limiting the universe of aides with access to the calls or their transcripts, said one administration official, adding that the leaks — and Trump's anger over them — had created a climate where people are ”very careful who they talk to."

The president and his allies believe career NSC staff assigned from other agencies are out to get them. In turn, some NSC staff believe Trump does not possess the capacity for detail and nuance required to handle the sensitive issues discussed on the calls, and that he has politicized their agency by appointing chief strategist Bannon to the council.

Last week, Trump told an associate he had become weary of in-fighting among — and leaks from — his White House staff ”because it reflects on me," and that he intended to sit down staffers to tell them ”to cut this shit out."
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The interviews paint a picture of a powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high. Two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks.

In Washington circles, talk has turned to whether a staff shake-up is in the works.

One person close to Trump said: "I think he'd like to do it now, but he knows it's too soon."
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Spicer, a 45-year-old party operative who rose through the ranks of the Republican National Committee, has told several people that he finds the non-stop demands of the position difficult.

For now, the president is standing by his press secretary. After CNN reported Tuesday that Trump regretted hiring Spicer and was disappointed in him, the president spoke with his press secretary and told him that he was in fine shape. Trump, who has been reluctant to admit any missteps, also has acknowledged to Spicer that it was a mistake to send him to the White House briefing room on the administration's first full day to berate reporters for coverage of his inauguration crowd size.

For all of Trump's frustrations about staff drama however, it isn't clear they're going away any time soon. Tensions remain between the staffs of chief of staff Reince Priebus and Bannon. Priebus's advisers blamed Bannon's team for the botched rollout of the travel ban executive order, saying that they hadn't done the needed legwork ahead of time.
Click to expand...
 
-Plasma Reus-

-Plasma Reus-

Service guarantees member status
Spicer, a 45-year-old party operative who rose through the ranks of the Republican National Committee, has told several people that he finds the non-stop demands of the position difficult.
Click to expand...

Someone tell Trump this so he can freak out and fire the man
 
R

Rocketz

Member
Maybe, ohhh I don't know, it would have been smarter to elect someone with at least basic knowledge of the system and not some guy that eats Taco Bowls on Cinco De Mayo to declare how much he likes Hispanics.
 
H

Hagi

Member
Only stupid people thought he would have a clue what the position entailed. He's going to drown in the swamp he had no intention of draining.
 
A

Amalthea

Banned
If he were born in a lower class his mix of endless arrogance and stupidity would have killed him decades ago.

Privilege at its best.
 
M

MarionCB

Member
One thing to keep in mind is that a business is a totalitarian power structure. The owner runs it as a dictator. You must do what the owner, or their agents, instructs at all times and you can be removed from the business totally at the whim of the owner. The last thing you actually want is a country run like a business.
 
S

Saint Gregory

Member
He really believed all the conservative talking points about Obama being a God King Emperor. Obama never attempted to govern the nation by writing unconstitutional executive orders even if Fox News told you so.
 
Thaedolus

Thaedolus

Member
MarionCB said:
One thing to keep in mind is that a business is a totalitarian power structure. The owner runs it as a dictator. You must do what the owner, or their agents, instructs at all times and you can be removed from the business totally at the whim of the owner. The last thing you actually want is a country run like a business.
Click to expand...

...especially if the owner of said businesses has shown over and over again to be an incompetent failure of a con artist willing to burn everything down if he doesn't get his way. The only thing keeping this country from being fucked are the institutions ingrained in its power structure, and even then I'm still saying 50/50 on whether or not we survive this in 4 years.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
Trump has privately expressed disbelief over the ability of judges, bureaucrats or lawmakers to delay — or even stop — him from filling positions and implementing policies.
Click to expand...

Terrifying but hardly surprising.

I just can't believe people bought into the whole "business man with zero politcal experience will run government like a business and that's good."

Shit just doesn't work that way.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
The president, who is obsessive about looks and appearance, even was unhappy with a Saturday Night Live parody of a Spicer briefing, partly because the combative press secretary was depicted by a female comedian, Melissa McCarthy. After it aired, Spicer had proposed cracking a joke about the send-up during his next briefing, or even firing a squirt gun, as McCarthy had done in the sketch. Trump vetoed the idea, according to one person briefed on the matter.
Click to expand...
What the hell Trump.
 
N

Nerazar

Member
MarionCB said:
One thing to keep in mind is that a business is a totalitarian power structure. The owner runs it as a dictator. You must do what the owner, or their agents, instructs at all times and you can be removed from the business totally at the whim of the owner. The last thing you actually want is a country run like a business.
Click to expand...

Well, it's the first thing *he* wants to do. I mean, why can't they all listen to him since he has such noble goals like keeping the country safe? What's wrong with that? ;_;

His leadership style is definitely not made for this time and age. If he doesn't change his approach, he will tank the US like he did with his companies. He cannot wave people around telling them to "make things legal".
 
S

Steel

Banned
Considering he called past presidencies "reigns", it shouldn't be shocking that he thought of the position like he thought of monarchs.
 
A

Averon

Member
This has been the leakiest administration I've seen. It is like every week there's another story about what's happening inside the WH from insiders leaking to the press.
 
B

BurnsVictim

Neo Member
Honestly, I feel a little bad for Spicer. I think it's the look of constant pain in his eyes, I look at him and see a guy who is way, way off his original life plans. Which, surely, were to operate a world-class ice cream company. Instead he's just shilling for Orange Hitler, and you can see his inner conflict, written all over his face, every single press conference, every single interview.
 
H

Hagi

Member
HotHamBoy said:
Terrifying but hardly surprising.

I just can't believe people bought into the whole "business man with zero politcal experience will run government like a business and that's good."

Shit just doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...

They saw the façade of what he "built" and his talk of his massive "fortune" not realising how he actually fucking got to where he was. Privileged, entitled, orange faced baby shocked at how much work it is to run a country? Has no idea of how laws and the different department's under him work? Big fucking surprise.
 
P

Pai Pai Master

Banned
If only someone had the balls to tell him he couldn't do it that way. Instead they fucking made him president when he has no clue how to operate a government.
 
N

newshinycd

Member
This paragraph stood out to me

The interviews paint a picture of a powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high. Two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks.
Click to expand...

It's been three weeks. THREE WEEKS. How the hell are they supposed to handle the next 205 weeks?
 
P

Paskil

Member
One of my hopes is that this will shut down future no political experience business people from escaping the primaries. Running the executive branch and all that entails is nothing like running a business and being a CEO or company president is not a qualification.
 
R

RedSparrows

Member
HotHamBoy said:
Terrifying but hardly surprising.

I just can't believe people bought into the whole "business man with zero politcal experience will run government like a business and that's good."

Shit just doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...

The fact this isn't obvious to millions is FUCKING TERRIFYING.
 
S

Seigyoku

Member
Supposedly as he left the Office, Truman remarked that Eisenhower was going to have a MASSIVE adjustment to make, being a military man and a general who for years could just point to someone as say "DO THIS" and it would, of course, get done.

This is a billion times worse scenario we are living in. Sigh.
 
L

Lkr

Member
It's like studying politics and diplomacy isn't a social science that people study across the world to make them qualified for positions like any other career field!
 
N

neorej

ERMYGERD!
3 weeks in and they're already exhausted. It'd be funny if weren't so goddamn tragic.

Even Arnold Schwarzengger had more experience in politics before becoming governor of California than Trump has. Let that sink in for a second.
 
C

compo

Banned
I'm sure there are plenty of archaic loopholes in the laws that the three republican held branches of government can exploit to change the way government works within the next two years.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
The president, who is obsessive about looks and appearance, even was unhappy with a Saturday Night Live parody of a Spicer briefing, partly because the combative press secretary was depicted by a female comedian, Melissa McCarthy. After it aired, Spicer had proposed cracking a joke about the send-up during his next briefing, or even firing a squirt gun, as McCarthy had done in the sketch. Trump vetoed the idea, according to one person briefed on the matter.
Click to expand...
Spiced made the idea of the WH press briefing a damn joke with his first appearance

But this...this would have been surreal
 
L

Lkr

Member
Seigyoku said:
Supposedly as he left the Office, Truman remarked that Eisenhower was going to have a MASSIVE adjustment to make, being a military man and a general who for years could just point to someone as say "DO THIS" and it would, of course, get done.

This is a billion times worse scenario we are living in. Sigh.
Click to expand...
Eisenhower knew how to compromise and work with government officials though. He had to not only please the US government, but the government and soldiers from other countries.
Then again I'm in the group that thinks Truman was a complete baffoon and completely unqualified to be president
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
Saint Gregory said:
He really believed all the conservative talking points about Obama being a God King Emperor. Obama never attempted to govern the nation by writing unconstitutional executive orders even if Fox News told you so.
Click to expand...

That's because Obama, as a professional who took his responsibilities seriously, had a good idea what the job would entail before starting. Trump on the other hand had no clue.
 
S

SuperBowser

Member
One can only hope Trump suffers immeasurable mental anguish in his new job. Nothing else good is coming from this presidency anyway.

Like it or not, Trump and Bannon will slowly work their way through these legalities and regulations. They still have strong public support, Republicans aren't going to stop them and they are getting stuff done. By the end of these 4 years, Trump will be running the country like a business.
 
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