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.
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.
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.
-
'Alligator Alcatraz will be a blight on the Everglades'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Kirsty Coventry: the former Olympian and first woman to lead the IOC
In the Spotlight Coventry, a former competitive swimmer, won two Olympic gold medals
-
Critics' choice: Carrying the flag
Feature The best barbecue in town, Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak restaurant, and more
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday