Republican strategist blasts Trump for 'enjoying' making staffers compete: 'It's a diabolical approach'

As tumult and chaos in the West Wing reached a head Friday, one Republican strategist criticized President Donald Trump's reported joy obtained from making staffers compete as both counterintuitive and "diabolical."

In the Washington Post article that first broke news that the president is considering firing national security adviser H.R. McMaster, White House sources told reporters that the president himself sows chaos.

"Trump enjoys watching his subordinates compete for his approval," the report, which CNN host Jake Tapper read on-air Friday, noted. "Many of the rumors are fueled by Trump himself because he complains to aides and friends about other staffers, or muses about who might make good replacements."

"I think that's a pretty diabolical approach," Republican strategist Kevin Madden said. "I don't think it actually engenders a whole bunch of stability."

Although the White House keeps trying to dismiss reports of a West Wing in shambles as the result of "some kind of tension," the atmosphere as described in the Post and elsewhere "has to have a very destructive effect on the overall morale," the strategist said.

"Who's next? What's next?" Madden mused. "What person is looking around saying I want a job with long hours, a lot of stress, instability and a possible need for a legal fund?"

Watch below, via CNN: