Mike Pence is reportedly as big a Trump suck-up in private as in public

Mike Pence smiles at President Trump
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump's White House has a historically high turnover rate, "but there are a few survivors," Peter Nicholas writes at The Atlantic. He took a closer look at three people who have "flourished" in Trump's White House — policy adviser Stephen Miller, counselor Kellyanne Conway, and Vice President Mike Pence — and how they've managed it.

There are some unsurprising key techniques, Nicholas found: "Praising Trump, mastering skills that he values, and forging alliances in a rivalrous West Wing. If none of that works, plant yourself in front of a TV camera and impress the boss." Miller excels at the praise and mastering Trump's feel for their shared pet issue, immigration, and Conway nails defending Trump on TV. But "perhaps the most obsequious of all the president's men and women is his No. 2," Vice President Mike Pence, Nicholas reports, citing present and past White House staff members. He elaborated:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

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.