Trump reportedly schedules impromptu White House meetings based on that morning's Fox & Friends


When retired Gen. John Kelly joined the White House as President Trump's chief of staff a year ago, he tried to impose some order, restricting access to Trump, pruning disruptive aides, and urging the president to place his calls through the White House operator, for example. "A year into the job, Kelly's attempts to implement traditional processes in an untraditional White House have failed, according to a dozen people in and outside the administration," Politico's Eliana Johnson reports, and in fact, "three White House officials said these practices didn't last longer than six weeks."
Kelly has improved Trump's White House, his allies say, but his influence is limited by some pretty fundamental differences in temperament and habit — Trump constantly watches Fox News and tweets while Kelly "rarely watches television and doesn't follow Twitter," Politico says. Trump acts as though he doesn't really want a chief of staff, and Kelly "no longer works to keep his mercurial boss on task or on message." Trump has even started adding last-minute meetings to his schedule in a black appointment book, Politico reports, adding:
Kelly has done away with "meeting crashers," the West Wing aides who showed up for meetings uninvited, according to a White House aide, but he has not been able to curb Trump's practice of adding and subtracting advisers to meetings throughout the day or of turning scheduled gatherings into freewheeling discussions of subjects that suit his interests — including those suggested to him by his coterie of outside advisers, including Fox News host Sean Hannity. "He comes down for the day, and whatever he saw on Fox and Friends, he schedules meetings based on that," said one former White House official. [Politico]
You can read more about Kelly's failures and brief triumphs, and an analysis about how the Trump-Kelly relationship is worryingly similar to President Gerald Ford's clashes with his chief of staff Alexander Haig, at Politico.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
‘Mental health care is health care’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
6 Broadway shows coming to a local theater near you
The Week Recommends Harry Potter makes an appearance. As do the wives of Henry VIII.
-
Judge rejects top state charges in Mangione case
Speed Read If convicted, Mangione faces up to life in state prison
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants