The headlines from the White House have been all about who’s fired, who’s not and who’s nervous. To ease tensions among anxious staffers, John Kelly held a meeting to reassure those who were still employed that they should not worry, even though he’s been rumored to be among the terminated.
Kelly reassures West Wing staffers over further upheaval, White House sayshttps://t.co/5yw4AdCAKq pic.twitter.com/P8M2riiboa
— POLITICO (@politico) March 16, 2018
Who is behind all this craziness? Donald Trump. Kelly also held an off the record briefing for reporters that was quickly leaked to other reporters not in attendance. Bottom line–Donald Trump is talking to a lot of people about staff changes. Those people are feeding the press and fueling speculation about turnover.
"John Kelly acknowledged in an off-the-record session with reporters today that…Trump is likely speculating about staff moves to people outside the White House and that reporters are then talking to those people. And that’s how a good deal of news…" https://t.co/CaCt4oaWHZ
— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) March 16, 2018
So is Trump just asking around or is this a game he’s playing with the press? Here’s one example:
BREAKING: Trump's second Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to resign. Sources tell CBS it may happen as early as today.
This will only be the start of the resignation and termination wave that's about to gut the White House, ultimately reaching Session in my opinion.
— Brian Krassenstein? (@krassenstein) March 16, 2018
BREAKING: The @WSJ is reporting that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is “safe” in his position after reaching a truce with President Trump.https://t.co/2kiZ8dUatJ
— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) March 16, 2018