Politics - News Analysis

Trump is ‘Humiliated’ and ‘Super Pissed’ That No One Wants To Be His Chief of Staff

According to CNN, Donald Trump is angry and frustrated that his Chief of Staff position has gone unfilled.

Trump had assumed that Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff, Nick Ayers would take the position when offered.

In fact, Trump was so sure that Ayers would take the job, he had already given the 36-year-old Ayers an assignment.

Trump wanted Ayers to conduct a thorough review of how the West Wing operates, including evaluating staffing, in order to make it more politically focused over the next two years.

The details of Trump’s discussions reveal how close Ayers was to becoming chief of staff. He and Trump huddled several times over the last week in the residence of the White House, where they were afforded more privacy than in the staff-filled West Wing, but they ultimately could not agree to terms and Ayers declined the job.

Multiple sources familiar with Trump’s mood told CNN that he’s frustrated with the Ayers process. One source described his mood as “super pissed.” A second added he feels humiliated, a position he doesn’t like to be in, because Trump did not have a backup candidate prepared like he typically does when he’s fielding people for jobs.

One source said Ayers got the benefit of being seen as the next chief of staff “without any of the headaches.”

Trump predicted Ayers would budge on his demand to be chief of staff on an interim basis, with a set departure date of this spring, and was not prepared with a second option. Kelly, who attended a holiday party at the White House Sunday night and reported to work Monday, is expected to leave at the end of the month.

Trump is considering Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, budget director Mick Mulvaney, trade adviser Robert Lighthizer for the top role, but all of those men have hinted they are not interested.

Axios reported Sunday night that Trump was considering Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.

It’s unclear whether Meadows is interested in the gig, but it does seem risky — for the obvious reasons Ann Coulter laid out in a tweet:

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