With all the turnover in President Trump's six-month-old White House, you might get the impression that Trump is deploying his famous TV catchphrase, "You're fired," on a fairly regular basis. But other than FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, and acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Trump has "taken a passive-aggressive approach, preferring to demean, diminish, and demoralize subordinates" until they resign," The Washington Post concludes, pointing to outgoing White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer as a prime example and, to some extent, senior press aide Michael Short, who resigned Tuesday after White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci confirmed to Politico that he was on tap to be fired.
And in the cases of Comey, Yates, and Bharara, Trump did not personally fire any of them, sending deputies to do the job. (Comey found out from the TV set during a speech in Los Angeles, Yates from an apologetic Trump political appointee sent by White House counsel Don McGahn, and Bharara from acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente.) White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, considered a goner in the press months ago, weathered Trump's leaked displeasure by lowering his public profile. Now, Trump is heaping public abuse on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, apparently to get him to quit, and Sessions has few good options available.
Subscribe to 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.
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversibleSpeed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
-
At least 95 dead in Spain flash floodsSpeed Read Torrential rainfall caused the country's worst flooding since 1996
-
Cuba roiled by island-wide blackouts, Hurricane OscarSpeed Read The country's power grid collapsed for the fourth time in just two days
-
Wildlife populations drop a 'catastrophic' 73%Speed Read The decline occurred between 1970 and 2020
-
Floridians flee oncoming Hurricane MiltonSpeed Read The hurricane is expected to cause widespread damage in the state
-
Beryl kills 4, knocks out power to 2.7M in TexasSpeed Read Millions now face sweltering heat without air conditioning
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rainSpeed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
-
EPA limits carcinogenic emissions at 218 US plantsSpeed Read The new rule aims to reduce cancer-causing air pollution in areas like Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'
