President Trump and his staff are literally repeating all of Hillary Clinton's mistakes
They say history repeats itself, but what they don't tell you is that sometimes it doesn't take very long. President Trump and his closest staffers are seemingly making the exact same missteps as Hillary Clinton. Here's a look. Jeva Lange
The private email server
Hillary Clinton famously used a private email server while serving as secretary of state, an act Trump once claimed "disqualifies her from seeking presidency." But Trump's senior White House staff use a private Republican National Committee server, Newsweek reports. This isn't explicitly illegal — but it's led to some scrutiny in the past, such as when 22 million emails vanished under former President George W. Bush, or when the Russians possibly compromised the RNC server at the same time as their hack on the Democratic National Committee. Any emails that aren't forwarded from the private server to a White House address are also in violation of the Presidential Records Act. "Given how hard the Trump campaign hammered Clinton [on] her own use of a private email server during her tenure [...] this is not a good look," Engadget writes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The personal email account
While government officials have not always used .gov accounts, Clinton's usage was ruled as "more serious" in 2016. "The audit did note that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had also exclusively used a private email account. ... But the failings of Clinton were singled out in the audit as being more serious than her predecessor," The Associated Press reported last May. This past Thursday, Twitter users noticed that Trump's @POTUS Twitter account appeared to be linked to the personal Gmail account of his White House social media director, Dan Scavino. Scavino has apparently fixed that, but linking to a commercial email address made the Twitter account more vulnerable to hacking.
The ties to Teneo
Trump's former spokesman, Jason Miller, turned down a White House position in December, citing commitments to his family. On Friday, Axios reported Miller was taking a position with Teneo Strategy, a company that once put the Clintons in hot water. The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee scrutinized for years whether Teneo had "improper access to the highest levels of U.S. government" when Clinton was secretary of state, Reuters reports. While Miller does not have a job in the White House, he assured in December that he looks "forward to continuing to support the president-elect from the outside after my work on the transition concludes."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Will the mystery of MH370 be solved?Today’s Big Question New search with underwater drones could finally locate wreckage of doomed airliner
-
The biggest astronomy stories of 2025In the spotlight From moons, to comets, to pop stars in orbit
-
Why are micro-resolutions more likely to stick?In the Spotlight These smaller, achievable goals could be the key to building lasting habits
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
