TRUMP PEOPLE/ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI/REINCE PRIEBUS: “White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus may have little left of his job but his title.
In the swirl of Shakespearean intrigue that surrounds Donald Trump’s White House, Priebus’ fortunes have long been a source of speculation, given his limited role, colorful band of rivals and the president’s public slights. Those questions sharply escalated this week with the arrival of Trump’s new communications director, who was hired over Priebus’ objections and reports directly to the president.
Priebus’ already tense relationship with Anthony Scaramucci took a darker turn over the past 24 hours when the communications chief suggested in a late-night tweet that Priebus was one of the “leakers” that President Donald Trump has railed against. The New Yorker published an profanity-laced interview Thursday [7-27-17] in which Scaramucci called Priebus a “paranoid schizophrenic.”
Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Tuesday that no staff shake-up was imminent. But he has privately floated potential replacements for Priebus, including Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and former campaign adviser David Urban, according to three people who’ve been in conversation with the president and senior staffers recently. They weren’t authorized to discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.”
-Jill Colvin and Catherine Lucey, “Priebus takes his turn on the Trump administration hot seat,” The Washington Post online, July 28, 2017 11:06am