Donald Trump’s big purge begins

| 9:45 pm EST February 22, 2018
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Donald Trump has gotten rid of so many top officials and senior advisers since taking office, many of them amid scandal, it’s been difficult to keep track of them all. Trump has been running the most corrupt and unstable White House in modern history. Now Trump is reportedly in the process of forcing out at least two of his household names, meaning a purge is underway – but how far will this go?

Numerous reports from major media outlets say that Trump is about to oust Chief of Staff John Kelly as a result of Kelly’s recent tussle with Jared Kushner, and that Trump is about to oust National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster as a result of their disagreement about Russian election meddling. These are two of Trump’s most influential advisers, and dumping them both would represent a major purge, as well as a fundamental shift in White House leadership. It’s also worth noting that, while Kelly is retired, and McMaster is serving in a quasi-civilian capacity, these are two of Trump’s top military Generals.

Here’s the thing thing, though. For all the numerous advisers and officials Trump has ousted, there have been just as many instances where Trump leaked to the media that he was about to oust someone and then never went through with it. How many times have we heard that Trump was about to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson? By now Tillerson holds the cards in that relationship, because everyone knows Trump doesn’t have the guts to actually dump him.

Donald Trump often begins these kinds of purges against his own top people, but then ultimately ends up further empowering them by not following through with it. So now that the big purge is underway against John Kelly and H.R. McMaster and whoever else gets nudged toward the chopping block this time, we’ll see if Trump finishes the job or not. At this point he’s running out of scapegoats. Help support Palmer Report