Yet another of Donald Trump’s top White House advisers resigns amid controversy
Considering how many of Donald Trump’s top political people have resigned or been fired over the past 2.5 years, and how few of them he’s bothered to replace, it’s remarkable that there’s anyone left in the building. But now, yet another of Trump’s key White House personnel is resigning amid controversy.
For the past year and a half, Mercedes Schlapp has been Donald Trump’s White House Director of Strategic Communications. Considering how poorly the Trump White House handles communications, it’s fair to assume that she’s been as awful at her job as Trump’s other communications personnel. But now Schlapp is suddenly resigning – and as per usual, the departure is shrouded with scandal and backbiting.
Stephanie Grisham is taking over as Trump’s new White House Press Secretary and Communications Director, so it’s not uncommon for underlings like Schlapp to be sent packing, simply as a matter of chemistry. But someone involved has been leaking about the situation to right-wing publication Washington Examiner, claiming that Grisham accused Schlapp of leaking self-serving things and used it as a reason to oust her. The kicker of course is if Schlapp is going down for leaking, someone else is leaking about Schlapp having leaked.
Donald Trump announced today on Twitter that Mercedes Schlapp is now going to work for the Trump 2020 campaign. Trump has routinely used this as a way of dumping people from his White House but making sure they continue to get paid, so he can keep them loyal going forward. Interestingly, when Stephanie Grisham’s predecessor Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently resigned, she did not take the customary make-work job with the Trump campaign, and instead decided to simply go home.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report