Why don't they resign?
President Trump's senior aides are clearly chagrined by his recklessness. But they might be preventing something worse.
This is the editor’s letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
Let us spare a thought for the poor, overwhelmed minders whose job it is to protect President Trump from himself. As we saw once again this week, it is nearly an impossible task, like getting a 2-year-old through a nine-hour plane flight without tantrums. During a breakfast for NATO leaders last week, a visibly disgusted Chief of Staff John Kelly turned his head away and looked as if he'd swallowed a live, flapping bird as his boss berated Germany for allegedly being "totally controlled by Russia." (Pot, meet kettle.) In Helsinki, Dan Coats, Trump's director of national intelligence, was so horrified by Trump's submission to Putin, he felt obliged to say Russia did too engage in "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton — who reportedly had urged Trump to be "tough" on Putin — fled Finland in mortified silence.
Why don't they resign? Why did Rex Tillerson and H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohen all put up with being undermined, insulted, and ignored until Trump — irritated with their incomplete submission — sent them packing? After Helsinki, there were calls for Coats, Pompeo, Kelly, and others to quit, so as to halt their "enabling" of Trump. In The Washington Post, Fred Hiatt voices an alternative view: "The adults in the room" who serve this president do so out of real fear, hoping to protect our country from his worst impulses. "Things could be worse," Hiatt notes. Without the resistance of advisers like Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Trump might have formally withdrawn from NATO, and approved his pal Putin's seizure of Crimea. Who knows? Perhaps he would have extradited Robert Mueller to Moscow. We won't know what the nanny Cabinet has stopped their unruly charge from doing, until they go on to their reward — fat book contracts for telling stories that will curl everyone's hair.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published