My General

Reince Out, Kelly In:  Late Friday afternoon Trump announced the appointment of a new Chief of Staff.  He replaced the increasingly hapless Reince Priebus with former General John Kelly, who will now move from heading the Department of Homeland Security to the unruly White House while Priebus joins former press secretary Spicer competing for any remaining spots on Dancing With the Stars and FOX news. Trump likes to surround himself with rich people and his generals, Priebus, who is neither, was doomed from the start.  His ability to control the White House staff was limited and with the failure of the health care bill, the value of his Congressional connections had been discredited.   Everybody but the clueless Priebus saw this one coming from the moment that Anthony Scaramucci was hired to serve as Trump’s Communications Director and hatchet man, especially after the Mooch spent a good portion of his week bashing and undermining Priebus with Trump’s blessing. In an attempt to save face, Priebus claimed that he voluntarily submitted his resignation to Trump on Thursday and that Kelly was his handpicked replacement.   If believing that makes Priebus feel better, he probably shouldn’t pay attention to press reports that Trump first offered Kelly the Chief of Staff job in May and had been imploring him to accept the offer ever since. Theoretically, Kelly’s military experience and strong management skills should help him impose discipline in the White House but he will be sabotaged by the same hurdles that impeded Priebus’s success.  The impetuous, irrational Trump is still the president, he remains a tweet addict,  relatives and cronies still run amuck, and, at least for now, loose cannon Scaramucci will continue to report directly into Trump. After a few weeks in the White House, Kelly will likely conclude that deporting immigrants and rooting out terrorism is much easier than managing the capricious Trump and his coterie of back stabbing dilettantes.  Despite his success throwing Priebus under the bus, Scaramucci’s week wasn’t all good, on Friday the NY Post reported that his second wife, the mother of two of his children, has filed for divorce because she can’t stand Trump and doesn’t want anything to do with her fame and power seeking husband.  The soon to be former Mrs. Mooch has her eyes on getting a large chunk of the $90 million that the Mooch expects to receive from the sketchy Chinese firm who is overpaying for his Bayrock Capital Fund of Funds in order to curry favor with Trump.  She, like the Mooch, is hoping that Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will make sure that the appropriate regulators approve his sale shortly.      

Pure Trump:  Trump is still reacting to the stunning demise of his health care legislation.  He started the day calling for Obamacare to implode and then spent the day distancing himself from the decision to proceed with health care legislation before tax reform or infrastructure laying the blame for that strategy with House Majority Leader Ryan, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, the now unemployed Priebus, his former wives and Hillary Clinton.  He repeated his call for Obamacare’s demise during a speech to Long Island police officers before moving on to the intended topic, law and order and the battle to eliminate the MS 13 Gang.  By presidential decree he granted the attending police permission to engage in brutality when arresting gang members and anyone they think might be a gang member assuring them it would be okay if they “accidentally” bash a head or two into a car door or wall.  Later in the day the Suffolk County Police Chief issued a directive to his force advising them to ignore Trump’s illegal exhortations. Cleaning-up after Trump speeches is becoming a  cottage industry.     

Sanctions Signing:  Late in the day the White House said that Trump will sign the bill imposing new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea in order to avoid a fight with Congress that would have led to a humiliating veto override.  Fear of sanctions doesn’t seem to be putting a dent in North Korea’s missile program.  Yesterday they launched another intercontinental ballistic missile.  Intelligence agencies have revised their assessment of North Korea’s missile program, they now believe that Kim Jong Un will be able to reach a US target with a nuclear warhead by 2018.   

Reality Check:  To date, unlike their Senate counterparts, the House Judiciary Committee has shown no interest in participating in investigations into Russian election meddling in the 2016 elections or any related allegations about the Trump team.   Last week they found their true calling.  Republicans on the committee called for Attorney General Sessions and Deputy AG Rosenstein to appoint a new special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton, James Comey and Obama era AG Loretta Lynch to restore “public confidence in our nation’s justice system.”  I feel so much better knowing they are on the case.