CRISIS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has cast himself as a master brander and dealmaker, but rarely talks much about his crisis management style. The past week has, however, put that style on clear display.
The White House was slow to respond to the Parkland school shooting in any expansive way in the first several hours, waiting until overnight to make any formal statements beyond telling reporters the president was ‘aware’ and monitoring the situation… The response underscored the extent to which this White House, which is eternally engulfed by dramas — many of Trump’s own making — remains rudderless in a crisis and curiously flat-footed when true emergencies like the latest Florida shooting arise…
The shooting interrupted a slow-moving, nine-day scandal over the administration’s decision to allow a senior aide, Rob Porter, handle sensitive information as White House staff secretary, despite red flags in his background concerning domestic abuse… Multiple White House officials have said in recent days that morale has not been this low since the chaotic first 100 days of the Trump administration, when Reince Priebus worked as the chief of staff and warring factions threatened all decision-making…
A White House spokesman did not respond to comment on the president’s upcoming travel. He is still scheduled to make a weekend visit to his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, 40 miles from Parkland. The question remains whether Trump can pull the White House out of this funk and show the leadership chops to calm his staff and comfort the nation, not just his base.”
-Nancy Cook, “White House left feeling rudderless as Trump hangs back in crisis,” Politico, Feb. 15, 2018 08:36pm