Trump's departing security chief, Keith Schiller, is apparently also his 'emotional binky'

Keith Schiller, President Trump's trusted longtime bodyguard and the White House director of Oval Office operations, has worked for Trump since 1999. But as he prepares to leave for greener pastures, Trump's friends are worried about how the loss will affect Trump's psyche, they tell Axios. Trump believes that Schiller "tells him the truth because the only dog he has in the fight is the boss," one friend says, and so Trump seeks his advice on everything. Politically, Schiller, a former NYPD officer, is "a Breitbart-style conservative who kept Trump in touch with the Republican base and with the law enforcement community," Axios reports. "He's a winger!" a Schiller friend says. "He's one of us."

Schiller is reportedly moving on so he can make more money, like he did in his pre-White House role with the Trump Organization. But the controls new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has placed on Trump's visitors have also reduced Schiller's role as Trump's gut-instinct gatekeeper, divining who the president wanted to see at any given time. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who has enjoyed good access to Trump and his circle, agrees that losing Schiller will be an emotional adjustment for Trump.

Maybe that's why most presidents get dogs.

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