Apoplectic Donald Trump has Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon removed from Air Force One flight
Heading into the weekend we heard conflicting reports about whether White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had made the flight with Donald Trump to Mar-a-Lago, and there was also the strange report that Steve Bannon had flown down to Mar-a-Lago on a separate flight. Now we know why: an apoplectic Trump threw a fit in the White House, and then subsequently had them both removed from the Air Force One flight manifest at the last minute.
After tainted Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he was recusing himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, it’s been widely reported that Donald Trump went nuclear on his own senior staff, angry that Sessions had stepped back, and presumably angry at his advisers for having allowed it to happen. And now it turns out that Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon were removed from the Air Force One manifest to Mar-a-Lago as a result of what took place in that meeting.
There are multiple characterizations of the precise sequence of events. For instance ABC News has Priebus and Bannon quasi-volunteering not to make the trip after it became clear that Trump didn’t want them to go. But New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman suggested in a tweet this evening that the story may have been closer to Trump simply throwing Priebus and Bannon off the plane. It appears that, with the Trump-Russia scandal closing in by the day, and Donald Trump rapidly running out of outsiders to blame, he’s now taking out his frustrations on the handful of advisers still standing guard around him. The end can’t be far. Contribute to Palmer Report
