Before President Trump even took the stage at his rally in Phoenix last week, George Gigicos' fate was sealed — he would soon be relegated to the discard bin, jostling for room alongside Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Stephen Bannon, and Anthony Scaramucci.
Trump was backstage watching the crowd fill the floor of the Phoenix Convention Center, but he was angry when he saw how much empty space there was, one person familiar with his frame of mind told Bloomberg. Trump has always harped about staging and the size of his crowds, famously inflating the number of people who attended his inauguration, and even though more people streamed in the closer it got to Trump's speech, he decided that Gigicos, the man who organized the event, was never going to manage anther one of his rallies, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg; Trump didn't give him the message, instead sending his security aide Keith Schiller to break the news. Trump went on to give an animated, heavily panned speech in front of an estimated 10,000 people that included him threatening to shut down the government to get funding for a border wall, ripping apart the media, and lambasting the two Republican U.S. senators from Arizona without ever saying their names.
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.
-
Quiz of The Week: 29 March - 4 AprilHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Who is the world's first millennial saint?Podcast Plus, what has Meta done to anger writers? And why would studios block the release of their own movies?
-
The End: not the 'uncompromising masterpiece' it aspires to beTalking Point Post-apocalyptic musical has an excellent cast – but is 'catastrophically self-indulgent'
-
Trump rolls out tariffs on virtually all importsSpeed Read On "Liberation Day," Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to America and higher reciprocal tariffs for some 60 other countries
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats ThurmondSpeed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
-
Bondi seeks death penalty for Luigi MangioneSpeed Read Mangione was charged with fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year
-
Democrats win costly Wisconsin court seatSpeed Read Democrats prevailed in an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk's robust financial support of the Republican candidate
-
WHCA rejects White House press seating grabSpeed Read The White House Correspondents' Association objected to the Trump administration's bid to control where journalists sit during press briefings
-
Trump sends more migrants to El Salvador jailSpeed Read Another 17 Venezuelan alleged gang members have been deported to a notorious prison
-
Trump 'not joking' about unconstitutional 3rd termSpeed Read The president seems to be serious about seeking a third term in 2028
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
