Trump's White House is so 'toxic' and uncertain, aides are reportedly betting on who will be fired next
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After the latest round of firings, there's an unprecedented "mood of acute anxiety" in President Trump's White House, Axios reports. "Nobody knows what exactly is happening, who's about to be fired, or which staffer will next be frogmarched out the door by security for some shadowy clearance issue." A White House official tells Axios that Trump is running "the most toxic working environment on the planet. There's no leadership, no trust, no direction, and this point there's very little hope."
Rumors are swirling that National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster will be replaced by John Bolton, and Chief of Staff John Kelly by ... somebody. "Multiple [people] have told me they are unsure who could be fired or walked out next," says CNN's Kaitlan Collins. Jonathan Swan at Axios adds: "I keep hearing people telling me X person is imminently gone from the White House, but nobody serious really knows anything." The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey has this report:
Amid the uncertainty, The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol passes along some rumors involving EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller:
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"Would you want to go to work every day not knowing whether your future career was going to be destroyed without explanation?" the White House official asks Axios. For some people, the answer is obviously yes.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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