Organizing the Trump Presidency

Abstract

Despite President Trump’s tweet that there was “no WH chaos,” his administration suffered from considerable disarray in his first six months in office, particularly in the three core institutions of the presidency: the White House staff, the Cabinet, and presidential appointments. White House organization suffered from the lack of a strong chief of staff and a disciplined policy process. Trump did not delegate sufficient authority to Reince Priebus, who was not able to control the competing factions in the White House staff. Unlike previous cabinets, Trump’s domestic cabinet was headed by secretaries who were hostile to their departments’ missions. Trump’s national security team was undercut by a lack of consultation, communication, and coordination. All administrations suffer from the slow pace of presidential appointments, but Trump’s unique background led to significantly slower appointments than his five immediate predecessors. When John Kelly replaced Priebus as chief of staff, his main challenge was not White House organization; it was changing the president’s behavior, which undermined his own presidency.