White House counsel Don McGahn is struggling to corral Donald Trump and believes he could be fired by the tempestuous president any day, The New York Times reported Saturday.
"He told colleagues that he travels light because he never knows when he might be asked to leave," The Times reported.
McGahn chose not to decorate the walls and shelves his West Wing corner office.
"Several people who know him say he is intensely focused on his mission while maintaining a wry sense of humor and ironic detachment," The Times noted. "The stresses can be enough that he will cancel his afternoon meetings and leave the White House."
"President Trump picked the finest White House counsel I’ve ever worked with," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who reportedly has urged McGahn to stay after threatening to resign.
With Ty Cobb now taking the lead on Trump's legal defense, McGahn has been able to focus on confirming Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and twelve appeals court judges.
McGahn has “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that in his wildest dreams when he was going to law school he would never have imagined that he would have been in this position to have a direct effect on the courts for years to come,” said former Trump communications director Michael Dubke.
“I am sure he’s thought about quitting — I doubt there is a person in any West Wing that hasn’t thought about it — but this is very important to him,” Mr. Dubke said. “He views this as this is going to be his ultimate imprint on American government.”
