Yesterday Gary Cohn, Trump’s top Economic
Adviser resigned. Cohn resigned after losing a political and ideological debate
with the President. A disagreement which centered around the virtue, or lack
thereof, regarding the steel and aluminum tariffs that Trump has insisted he
will impose, even on our closest trading partners, Canada and Mexico. This was
not Cohn’s first occasion finding himself at cross-purposes with Trump. Last
year in August, when Trump found it excruciatingly difficult to condemn white
supremacists after their disruptive activity in Charlottesville, VA, some
reports contended Cohn nearly resigned.
In an interview with the Financial Times, conducted Thursday after the Charlottesville incident, Cohn, a high profile Jewish
member of the administration and former Goldman Sachs executive said Trump’s
handling of the violence and protests (Trump
condemned violence "on many sides," drawing immediate backlash)
caused him “distress.” He added:
“The
administration can and must do better to condemn hate groups.”
In some corners, folks are noting that at
least in resigning now, Cohn established that he really does have a red line
regarding the President’s actions. While it apparently was not the President’s
failure to issue a full-throated disavowal of white nationalists and Nazis,
infuriating America’s major trading partners did the trick. In full disclosure,
it is also worth noting that Cohn coveted, and was vying to become the next
Federal Reserve Chairman. In as much as that ship sailed in January when Jerome
Powell was confirmed as the new Fed Chair, if Cohn is once again mad as hell,
there is now no residual need to take it anymore.
In case this development seems like “just
another chaotic day in TrumpWorld, and it does, Mr. Cohn’s exit reminds me of a
narrative I touched upon over 5 months ago, when I cited a least 30 individuals
and two entire Councils that had been dismissed, or who had resigned from the
Trump administration. That list follows:
§ General
Michael Flynn – National Security Advisor (resigned) – 22 days
§ Sean
Spicer – Press Secretary (resigned) – 182 days
§ Anthony
Scaramucci – Director of Communications (fired) – 10 days
§ Reince
Priebus – Chief of Staff (resigned) – 189 days
§ Steve
Bannon (mutual agreement) – 210 days
§ Sebastian
Gorka (unclear) – 217 days
§ Carl
Ichan (resigned) – 210 days
§ White
House Manufacturing Council (dissolved) – 201 days
§ White
House Economic Council (dissolved) – 201 days
§ Denise
Morrison – Advisory Council (resigned) – 201 days
§ Inge
Thulin – Advisory Council (resigned) 201 days
§ Thea
Lee – Advisory Council (resigned) 200 days
§ Scott
Paul – Advisory Council (resigned) 200 days
§ Richard
Trumka – Advisory Council (resigned) 200 days
§ Kenneth
C. Frazier – Advisory Council (resigned) – 199 days
§ Kevin
Plank – Advisory Council – (resigned) – 199 days
§ Brian
Krzanich – Advisory Council (resigned) – 199 days
§ Derek
Harvey National Security Council Advisor (fired) – 186 days
§ Michael
Short Assistant Press Secretary (resigned) – 186 days
§ Walter
Shaub Director Office of Government Ethics (resigned) – 180 days – (resigned)
§ Robert
Iger – Advisory Council (resigned) – 133 days (resigned)
§ Elon
Musk – Advisory Council (resigned) – 132 days
§ Mike
Dubke – Director of Communications (resigned) – 85 days
§ T.
McFarland – Deputy National Security Advisor (resigned) 117 days
§ James
Comey – FBI Director (fired) – 109 days
§ Angela
Reid – Chief Usher (fired) – 105 days
§ Katie
Walsh – Deputy White House Chief of Staff (resigned) – 69 days
§ Craig
Deare – National Security Council Senior Director (fired) – 26 days
§ Travis
Kalanick – Advisory Council (resigned) – 13 days
§ Sally
Yates – Acting Attorney General – fired – 10 days
As you might imagine, and rightfully so, the
list has only grown since that August 30th Post (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2017/08/30/hurricane-harvey-unprecedented-and-fortuitously-timely/).
I can no longer be held responsible for ensuring that the list is complete. It
does change frequently. In an effort to hit the high points, here are some of
the people who have seen the light, and escaped, been forced to resign, or in
straight-up “Apprentice-fashion,” fired, since that Wednesday in August.
·
Tom Price Health & Human
Services Secretary – Resigned in September (Travelgate)
·
Dina Powell Deputy National Security Adviser –
Resigned in December (A former George W. Bush administration official, said to
have left on good terms)
·
Omarosa Menigault Newman
Communications Officer – Resigned in December (Said to have been forcibly
escorted off the White House property
·
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald CDC
Director – Resigned in January (Tobaccogate)
·
Rob Porter Staff Secretary –
Resigned in February (Spouse Beating Syndrome/which he denied)
·
Hope Hicks White House
Communications Director – Resigned in February (Muellered)
·
Gary Cohn Economic Adviser –
Resigned in March (Not Promoted)
Outside of Trump’s head, and the Fox News
bubble, which I surmise has probably been arranged to portray a reasonable facsimile
of the inside of Trump’s head, many observers and a host of news outlets have
concluded the administration is immersed in chaos. Not surprisingly, Trump has
dismissed this verifiably logical conclusion. He, in fact, insists that his
White House is filled with positive energy. Yesterday at his news conference he
argued he would have his pick of “ten top people” for the openings in his White
House. “There is no chaos, only great energy!”
“Everybody
wants to be there. And they love this White House because we have energy like
rarely before. OK?”
While some Republicans have expressed
reservations about whether they would like to work for the Trump White House,
the President’s take on the matter is, “Maybe people don’t want to work for
Trump, but everybody wants to work in the White House. Not only does it look
good on a resume, but the White House is a great place to work; it’s got
tremendous energy.”
Even among insiders at the Trump White House,
there are those who see more chaos than that unlimited source of great energy
the President claims. But that’s a conversation for another day. After
contemplating the significance of the Trump Administration’s revolving staff
door, I believe I’ve found an island of virtue in the midst of a sea of
despair. The President has a plan to keep his campaign promise. “DrainingThe Swamp: One Former Trump Appointee at a Time!”
I’m done, holla
back!
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