Nobody wants to be Trump’s chief of staff. And why would they? Trump has turned the White House’s top job into “a laughing stock,” and his entire presidency has been defined by chaos.
Politico: “A job that was once a ticket to Washington royalty has recently become a laughing stock.”
Vice News: “Nobody Wants To Manage Trump’s White House”
Politico Playbook: “We made a round of calls last night about the chief of staff job and heard the same thing over and over again: No one wants it this time, and it’s an exceedingly bad phase of the administration to take the helm.
New York Times: “Nick Ayers, Aide to Pence, Declines Offer to Be Trump’s Chief of Staff.”
Politico’s Nancy Cook: “A source close to Mulvaney tells me he is no longer interested in COS job, Mnuchin and Lighthizer sending out same signals … list of potential replacements for Kelly shrinking by the hour.”
New York Times: “As President Trump heads into the fight of his political life, the man he had hoped would help guide him through it has now turned him down, and he finds himself in the unaccustomed position of having no obvious second option.”
Washington Post’s Michael Shear: “What is remarkable — and consistent with the chaotic pattern of this administration — is the failure to have lined up an immediate replacement.”
Washington Post: “That announcement closed out Kelly’s rocky tenure and ushered in a second straight messy chief-of-staff handover for the president, for whom the next pick will be the third to take on the daunting job in less than three years.”
Bloomberg: “The White House now faces a potentially chaotic transition in a vital leadership role with Ayers out of the running, despite months of advance conversations with the president.”
Associated Press: “Trump’s administration has set records for staff turnover, and he has often struggled to attract experienced political professionals.”