August 11, 2017

Does Donald Trump Have Anyone Left That He Listens To?

Ron Sachs/CNP via ZUMA

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Politico writes that Stephen Bannon is increasingly isolated within the White House:

The conservative news site Breitbart has waged a nonstop campaign against national security adviser H.R. McMaster, but so far it seems to have done the most damage to someone else: Steve Bannon. A Wall Street Journal editorial earlier this week accused Bannon of using the right-wing media to go after his ideological foes, questioning his loyalty to the president and placing blame for White House dysfunction squarely on his shoulders.

….Bannon has grown more isolated without his ally Priebus in the West Wing….In June, Trump started telling aides that he suspected that Bannon was a source of negative stories, according to aides. After a slew of stories about Bannon “winning” policy wars in the White House—like Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord—the president told Bannon to “knock it off,” according to the senior administration official.

Priebus at one point also warned Bannon. “You’ve got to get people to stop writing this shit, because people know it’s you,” the senior administration official said.

I’ve recently read that H.R. McMaster is increasingly isolated in the White House. Now Bannon is increasingly isolated. Ivanka Trump is hunkering down and avoiding politics altogether. Anthony Scaramucci was fired after ten days on the job. John Kelly is brand new, but already running afoul of a president who doesn’t like being reined in. At the same time, Rex Tillerson is on the outs, Mitch McConnell is on the outs, Jeff Sessions is on the outs, and Paul Ryan is all but invisible these days.

So who’s left? Who does Trump still listen to? I guess Jared Kushner is still whispering in his ear. Maybe Kellyanne Conway? Mike Pence? I’m not sure. Who’s left these days who’s still on Trump’s good side?

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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