December 11, 2018

No One Wants to Be Trump’s Chief of Staff. Trump Claims Fake News.

“Many, over ten, are vying for and wanting the White House Chief of Staff position.”

Joyce N. Boghosian/ZUMA

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As the White House scrambles to name a replacement for outgoing Chief of Staff John Kelly, President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied reports he is having difficulty filling the once-highly coveted position. He also, without evidence, accused the media of “purposely” misreporting the details of the search.

“Fake News has it purposely wrong,” he tweeted. “Why wouldn’t someone want one of the truly great and meaningful jobs in Washington.” He claimed that more than 10 candidates are currently vying for the gig, though it’s unclear who these job-seekers are.

The president’s struggle to fill the position is likely due in part to his own self-professed penchant for conflict among his staff, as well as his noted refusal to be constrained by more orderly processes. “I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view,” Trump said back in March amid reports of heightened chaos in the West Wing. “I like watching it. I like seeing it.”

Trump’s Tuesday tweet comes days after his rumored top choice for the position, vice presidential chief of staff Nick Ayers, declined to take the job. The decision reportedly shocked the president and has since left the White House without a backup plan. “There was no Plan B, and whoever advised him that Nick Ayers was the right person and would accept the job did the president a grave disservice,” Steve Bannon told the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports several of Trump’s aides are frustrated with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who had been campaigning for months to replace Kelly—apparently without a fully formed plan to do so.

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In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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