Donald Trump's White House is plagued with dysfunction: reports

New reports indicate that the Trump White House is still struggling to find its footing

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published February 6, 2017 12:52PM (EST)

 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump is not having an easy time adjusting to the White House.

Trump and his aides are frustrated by everything from figuring out how to use the cabinet room's light switches to not letting the constant anti-Trump protests bother them, according to a report by The New York Times on Sunday. The article, which interviewed "dozens of government officials, congressional aides, former staff members and other observers of the new administration," also described how Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is concerned by the growing influence of Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, although that may be somewhat offset by Trump's reported frustration at feeling like he hadn't been fully apprised of what his executive order allowing Bannon to sit on the National Security Council would entail — indicating that he had not read the executive order before signing it.

As other reports have also indicated, Trump spends a great deal of time watching television, even installing an updated TV in one of the White House rooms so he can follow the news broadcasts while eating his lunch. At the end of the day, when he isn't exploring the White House, he watches TV in his bathrobe, which combined with his regular TV-watching throughout the day has caused some aides to feel his TV-watching is excessive. Trump also seems to be as concerned with the look of his new White House as its actual policymaking, reportedly poring through a list of 17 window covering options for the Oval Office and ordering his staff to arrange as many televised events in that room as possible.

One friend of Trump, Newsmax Media CEO Chris Ruddy, criticized the president's staff, telling The Times, "I personally think that they’re missing the big picture here. Now he’s so caught up, the administration is so caught up in turmoil, perceived chaos, that the Democrats smell blood, the protesters, the media smell blood."


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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Donald Trump Reince Priebus Steve Bannon