According to the Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump is giving up on asking White House insiders -- including his own chief of staff -- for advice and is reaching out to former staffers as his administration continues to be embroiled in daily chaos.
Among those he is in contact with? Former strategist Steve Bannon.
According to the report, Trump has become disenchanted with Chief of Staff John Kelly and has ignored his advice while lashing out at the media and his other perceived enemies, using former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani as his surrogate -- not always to good effect.
The report states Trump has "demoralized several members of his team," including White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders who was reportedly furious about Giuliani's appearance on Fox News. Trump's freelancing has also undercut Kelly's attempts to control the White House chaos.
“The president’s conduct disempowers Kelly and those in the White House who would be helpful in protecting him,” explained a White House official, adding that Kelly “has the ability to actually help the president and prevent chaos and ineffective messaging.”
According to the Journal, Trump's latest turn to increased ranting and attacking could be the result of reaching out to bomb-throwing ex-aide Corey Lewandowski -- bypassing Kelly by talking privately to the former campaign manager on the phone -- and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
The report also states that a White House source has confirmed that Trump is again on speaking terms with Bannon, who was ousted in the wake of comments attributed to far-right conservative in Michael Wolff’s Trump book, “Fire and Fury.”
According to another White House insider, Trump is enjoying "his reality-show strategy.”
“He’s vying for public opinion instead of worrying about the details," the aide admitted.
