52 train wrecks

52 train wrecks John Kelly couldn’t stop — or started himself

The retired general has proven unable to stop President Donald Trump from being himself.

By POLITICO STAFF

Retired Marine general John Kelly was promoted from secretary of Homeland Security to White House chief of staff with one job: to impose discipline on President Donald Trump’s chaotic West Wing. Named at the tail end of a week that included the surprise departure of press secretary Sean Spicer and a shockingly profane rant by communications director Anthony Scaramucci to The New Yorker, Kelly offered the promise of order — but in the year since he took the job, things have gotten only crazier in Trump’s world.

1. First day: Goodbye, Scaramucci
Trump tweets “No WH chaos!” A few hours later, Kelly fires short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

2. "Fire and Fury"
President Donald Trump’s warning Tuesday that if North Korea continues its saber-rattling it “will be met with fire and fury” sparked new fears that the standoff over the regime’s advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs could degenerate into a shooting war.

3. A thank-you to Putin
“I want to thank him,” Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to new U.S. sanctions — a cut of 755 U.S. Embassy officials. “We’re trying to cut down on payroll and as far as I’m concerned, I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump added, in what was perhaps the most shocking, if not out of character, news he made all day.

4. “Very fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville
Trump defends attendees of the fatal white supremacist rally in Virginia, saying, “Excuse me, they didn’t put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.”

5. Steve Bannon ousted
“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

6. Trump pardons Joe Arpaio
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio – who became a symbol of law enforcement hostility to immigrants and Latinos – wrote on Twitter:

 Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department!

7. Melania wears stilettos en route to Texas hurricane zone tour
The first lady boarded Air Force One to visit Texas after Hurricane Harvey wearing her signature stiletto heels in black snakeskin – a move many saw as striking the wrong note given the deaths and flooding in Texas, though she changed into sneakers on the plane.

8. Trump targets ESPN host Jemele Hill
The president directly attacked the “SportsCenter” co-host after she called him a white supremacist. Tweeting:

 ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!

9. Trump disinvites Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry from the White House
Three days later, Trump tweeted:

 General John Kelly totally agrees w/ my stance on NFL players and the fact that they should not be disrespecting our FLAG or GREAT COUNTRY!

10. Trump throws paper towels at hurricane victims in Puerto Rico
“Have a good time,” Trump told people at one shelter he visited. A majority of the population on the already-financially struggling island were left without power for months after the storm, an unprecedented crisis that led to an estimated 4,600 deaths in Hurricane Maria’s aftermath.

11. NBC News reports Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron”
“I’m very honored by his comments,” Trump said after his secretary of state denied the report during a rare news conference at the State Department. “Total confidence in Rex. I have total confidence.”

12. Kelly makes a surprise briefing room appearance to deny that he’s quitting
“I’m not quitting today,” he said, smiling, as he batted back reports of discord between him and the president. “I don’t believe, and I just talked to the president, I don’t think I’m being fired today.”

13. Kelly slimes black Florida Democrat as an “empty barrel”
Kelly refuses to apologize after misrepresenting Rep. Frederica Wilson’s comments at the 2015 opening of a Miami FBI facility – an episode he brought up in an attack on Wilson, who publicly criticized Trump’s handling of a condolence call to the widow of a Special Forces soldier killed in Niger.

14. Amid #MeToo, Trump tweets about harassment allegations involving Al Franken
“The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?” Trump tweeted. “And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?” The president was referencing a joke Franken once suggested, in his previous life as a “Saturday Night Live” writer, about raping the “60 Minutes” correspondent.

15. Trump defends Roy Moore after doubting accusers
“Let me just tell you, Roy Moore denies it. That’s all I can say. He denies it. And, by the way, he totally denies it,” Trump told reporters in his first direct comments after the firebrand Alabama Republican Senate candidate was accused of sexually pursuing — and in some cases assaulting — teenagers or young women when he was in his 30s.

16. Trump picks a fight with Time Magazine over Person of the Year
“Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!” Trump tweeted. The magazine said that Trump was wrong.

17. Trump slams Democratic congressional leaders in a tweet
Trump tweeted ahead of a planned White House meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, who immediately canceled.

 Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!

18 .Trump lashes out at British Prime Minister Theresa May
Trump tweeted after May’s spokesperson called the president “wrong” for retweeting anti-Muslim videos posted by the leader of a far-right British group:.

 .@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!

19 .Trump targets top FBI officials
On the second day of his winter break at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump took aim at senior FBI leadership. Trump posted:

 How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?

20. Trump says Mueller investigation “makes the country look very bad”
In an off-the-cuff interview with New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt at one of his Florida golf clubs, Trump said, “I absolutely have a right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department” – a comment that did nothing to ease concerns that the president might interfere with the ongoing Russia probe.

21. Trump disavows Bannon
“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump says in a statement after The Guardian published excerpts from Michael Wolff’s tell-all “Fire and Fury,” in which the former strategist describes the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian agents as “treasonous.”

22. Trump tweets that he is “a very stable genius”
After days of questions about his mental and physical health sparked by the Wolff book, Trump tweeted:

 ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....

23. Trump describes African nations as “shithole” countries
In a meeting with lawmakers, the president asked why the U.S. admits people from “shithole countries”—and then said he wanted more immigrants from Norway, drawing a wave of criticism over the administration’s bigotry.

24. Kelly says California teacher should ‘go to hell’
A high school teacher was put on administrative leave after bashing the military as “the lowest of our low” while urging students not to enlist for service, prompting Kelly – a retired Marine Corps general – to say in a Fox News Radio interview: “I think the guy ought to go to hell.”

25. Trump aide Rob Porter resigns amid domestic abuse revelations
The White House lurched into crisis mode amid reports that staff secretary Rob Porter had verbally and physically abused his two ex-wives, with Kelly forced again to deny reports that he was about to quit or be fired after it was reported that he was aware of the abuse claims against Porter but did nothing until the publication of photographs showing one of Porter’s ex-wives with a bruised eye.

26. Trump openly criticizes H.R. McMaster
Tensions between the president and his national security adviser flared after McMaster said during a speech in Europe that evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election was “incontrovertible,” with the president responding: “General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!””

27. Jared Kushner loses top-secret security clearance
Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, who in the early days of the administration was ubiquitous at diplomatic events and other sensitive meetings, was among those stripped of access to top-secret intelligence after revelations that dozens of top White House officials were working on temporary security clearances more than a year into the Trump administration.

28. Gary Cohn resigns
The former Goldman Sachs president, whose aspirations of being named to chair the Federal Reserve were dashed after he criticized Trump over the August 2017 Charlottesville march, announced he’d leave the White House amid an unsuccessful push to persuade Trump not to risk a trade war by imposing new tariffs.

29. Kelly tells reporters Tillerson was on the toilet when he was fired
In an off-the-record briefing with reporters, the chief of staff said that the secretary of state, who was on a diplomatic mission in East Africa when Trump decided to dismiss him, had been suffering from a stomach bug and was in the bathroom when Kelly called to break the news. The embarrassing story was quickly reported by outlets whose reporters weren’t in the off-the-record background meeting.

30. McMaster out, John Bolton in
The president blindsided his chief of staff and other top officials with his decision to replace McMaster with Fox News regular Bolton – who was initially passed over in part because Trump was turned off by his bristly mustache but who won the president’s favor with his TV appearances defending the administration.

31. Trump denies knowing about hush money payment to Stormy Daniels
Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters he knew nothing about a reported $130,000 payment made by longtime lawyer Michael Cohen during the 2016 campaign to the porn actress, who said she had an affair with Trump starting in 2006. In July, audio tape released by Cohen suggested he and Trump discussed a different payment involving another woman, Karen McDougal, to squash the story of the affair she says she had with Trump around the same time as Daniels.

32. Federal investigators raid Cohen’s office and apartment
“I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, a good man,” the president said after federal agents seized documents and other materials from Cohen, who is under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan over his business dealings. “I’ve been saying it for a long time. I have this witch hunt constantly going on,” Trump added. The raid triggered a court battle in New York as Cohen tried to shield seized materials from being used in any investigation, claiming attorney-client privilege.

33. Nikki Haley hits back at the White House over Russia sanctions
Trump’s U.N. ambassador was quickly corrected by the White House after announcing on a Sunday news show that the administration intended to impose new sanctions on Russia – but instead of folding, the former South Carolina governor publicly defended herself, saying in a statement: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”

34. Melania pals around with predecessors at Barbara Bush funeral
The president, whose relationship with the Bush family is tense at best, made the decision to skip former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral, citing his desire to avoid undue security disruptions – but Melania Trump, who represented the administration in Houston, created an Internet sensation after she was photographed smiling with Barack Obama during the service.

35. Trump’s doctor, Ronny Jackson, withdraws as Veterans Affairs nominee
The final collapse of the president’s nomination of his personal physician Ronny Jackson after revelations about Jackson’s loose handling of prescription medication overshadowed Trump’s successful first state visit, welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the confirmation of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state.

36. NBC News reports that Kelly called Trump an ‘idiot’
The chief of staff was forced to deny the report as “total BS” after the network cited eight current and former administration officials saying that Kelly had repeatedly called Trump names – echoing the earlier NBC report that former Secretary of State Tillerson called the president a “moron.”

37. The Hill reports aide made dismissive comment about ‘dying’ John McCain
Communications aide Kelly Sadler drew condemnation from Republicans after she was quoted as saying the Arizona Republican’s opposition to Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, because of her involvement in George W. Bush-era torture programs “doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.” Rather than apologize, the White House launched a hunt for leakers amid the furor that followed the report.

38. Melania’s mysterious kidney condition
The president attacked the media over rumors about Melania Trump’s lengthy absence from the public eye following what the White House said was a kidney embolization procedure at Walter Reed medical center for an unspecified “benign kidney condition.” Weeks after the procedure, Trump tweeted:

"The Fake News Media has been so unfair, and vicious, to my wife and our great First Lady, Melania. During her recovery from surgery they reported everything from near death, to facelift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse. All Fake, she is doing really well!"

39. Trump refers to undocumented immigrants as ‘animals’
“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country,” Trump said during a roundtable on immigration. “You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals. And we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before.” The White House later said the president was referring to members of the MS-13 gang – but the White House continued to use the word “animals” to describe immigrants in subsequent news releases.

40. Trump threatens to withdraw from his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
“Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote – but then the very next day reversed course, saying the summit planners were back at work. The event eventually took place as planned on June 12.

41. Trump calls his own family separation policy ‘horrible’
Trump tweeted amid a growing backlash over border separations:

"Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS."

42. On Memorial Day, Trump focuses on himself—and Russia
Trump tweeted about himself hours before heading to Arlington National Cemetery to lay a memorial wreath. Later, he pivoted to the Russia investigation.

43. Trump targets Sessions
The president revived his long-dormant campaign against his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, after The New York Times reported that Robert Mueller was examining a March 2017 meeting at which Trump asked the former Alabama senator to un-recuse himself from the Russia probe. “‘There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else,’” Trump tweeted, quoting Rep. Trey Gowdy’s comments on CBS. “And I wish I did!”

44. Trump floats the idea of a self-pardon
A little more than a week after pardoning conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza – and floating a pardon for Martha Stewart and a potential commutation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s prison sentence – Trump asserted to reporters in an impromptu press availability outside the White House he had the right to pardon himself: “I do have an absolute right to pardon myself, but I’ll never have to do it because I didn’t do anything wrong and everybody knows it.”

45. Trump withdraws from G-7 communique
The president waited to board Air Force One on his way to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore before he sent a tweet directing his negotiators to stay out of the joint statement agreed by member countries in Canada – and took a sideswipe at his host for the event, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

46. Trump expresses envy of how North Koreans treat Kim Jong Un
Coming off his summit in Singapore, at which he was seen saluting a North Korean general, the president told Fox News that he wished Americans would treat him with more respect. “He’s the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head,” Trump said to Fox. “Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.” Trump later told another reporting he’d been kidding.

47. Trump reverses family separation policy
After weeks of claiming – falsely – that only Congress could stop family separations at the border, Trump signed an executive order halting the policy, an unusual climb-down amid an escalating public outcry over images and recordings of tearful children.

48. “I really don’t care, do u?”
The day after Trump signed the executive order ending family separations, first lady Melania Trump wore a Zara jacket bearing the puzzlingly cynical slogan as she boarded her jet bound for an migrant children’s shelter in Texas – and took the unusual step of inviting press photographers to capture her departure. In an echo of her stiletto episode after Hurricane Harvey, she left the jacket on the plane while she was in Texas and then put it back on once she landed in Washington.

49. “Be careful what you wish for”
The president appeared to make a veiled threat against California Rep. Maxine Waters, who at a rally in Los Angeles days after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was booted from a Virginia restaurant, called on opponents of Trump’s immigration policies to protest directly to Cabinet members “in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station.” Trump responded: “Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!”

50. Trump undercuts British leader Theresa May during his welcome dinner
British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Trump on his first official visit to the United Kingdom by throwing him a fancy party at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, without knowing that Trump had given an interview to the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid in which the president suggested that May had made a hash of Brexit negotiations and that her rival Boris Johnson would make a great prime minister. In the interview, published the night of the dinner, Trump also made incendiary comments about Britain “losing its culture” by allowing in immigrants.

51. “I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t’”
Facing widespread condemnation of his equivocal remarks on Russian election meddling alongside Putin after their summit in Helsinki, Trump made a televised statement in which he claimed he’d misspoken when he said he didn’t see any reason Russia would have interfered. The next day, he appeared to walk back his walkback, telling a reporter “no” when asked whether he thought Russia is still targeting the U.S.

52. Trump threatens Iran in ALL CAPS
In response to comments from Iran’s leader cautioning Trump not to interfere with Tehran’s government, the president late on Sunday night issued a threat to the Iranian regime via Twitter: