Trump’s Loyalty Test
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In the Oval Office, senior aides to President Donald Trump sometimes steal glances at one another while he speaks. Silent and stone-faced, they dare not say what they are thinking, but they communicate nonetheless. Beyond the President’s earshot and eyeshot, the concern comes through in less subtle ways. The West Wing’s thick walls, even with the TV turned up, cannot muffle the sounds of staffers shouting behind closed doors.
It is a terrible thing to work every day for long hours in a hostile environment you can’t control. It is worse when the stakes are as consequential as those at the White House, when your public reputation is on the line and when the man in charge blames those around him for his self-made misfortune. The fourth month of the Trump presidency has unfolded with all the suspense of a reality show. No one knows what will happen next because the President changes his mind in real time. “We watch Twitter,” says one aide. “We’re just as in the dark,” allows another.
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