White House staffers are planning their exit strategies from a scandal-plagued administration: Report

Plagued by scandals, White House staffers are reportedly looking for a way out

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published May 18, 2017 9:40AM (EDT)

Donald Trump; Reince Priebus; Mike Pence   (AP/Alex Brandon)
Donald Trump; Reince Priebus; Mike Pence (AP/Alex Brandon)

It seems that working for President Donald Trump is increasingly unappealing to the White House staffers who often bear the brunt of his anger as his administration wallows in scandal.

While Trump likes to blame his problems on his communications team or chief of staff, the rank-and-file staffers themselves are beginning to resent Trump and place the blame squarely on his shoulders, according to a recent report by The Washington Post. Many of them are already starting to look for other places of employment, while those who are sticking around are prone to saying that they're doing so to increase their marketability and earning potential after leaving the White House. Many of them perceive the string of scandals from this week — including news reports alleging that Trump shared classified Israeli intelligence with Russian officials and asked former FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn — as so devastating that they can't imagine Trump's regaining his credibility.

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There is particular concern over the news that Comey claimed to have taken notes of many of his conversations with Trump. Republican operatives who have regular contact with the White House describe the mood among staffers as "going through the stages of grief" and say that their mood has "moved to angry." One even argued that the staffers should start keeping diaries and asking themselves, "How long do you put up with it? Every one of those people could get a better-paying job and work less hours."

Until they move on to better (if not necessarily bigger) things, these staffers are frequently resorting to "gallows humor," as the Post reported, a point reinforced by MSNBC producer Jesse Rodriguez on Twitter.

Not surprisingly, the Post also reported that staffers who still remain loyal to Trump are feeling increasingly isolated.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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