Donald Trump Considers Major Shake-up of Senior White House Team

Trump is considering a major shake-up of his staff, a senior administration official said Friday, as he looks to build a more cohesive operation after a tumultuous start in the White House.

As he turned to the Syrian crisis that prompted the White House to adopt a war footing culminating in Thursday’s missile strike, Mr. Trump was increasingly unhappy over the feuding that has run through the West Wing and is determined to see it end, the official said. Mr. Trump is specifically evaluating whether to keep his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, in their current positions.

While Trump has made clear he has affection for Mr. Priebus, the chief of staff has emerged as a target because he is in overall command of a White House operation that has struggled. rump’s approval ratings are in the low 40s, an all-out White House effort to pass a health-care overhaul fell short, and two executive orders barring certain travelers from entering the U.S. are tied up in court. Mr. Priebus has absorbed some of the blame for these early missteps.

Another top aide who could be removed or reassigned in a staff reshuffle is Mr. Bannon, a figure who represents an economic nationalist, “America first” perspective that was central to Mr. Trump’s electoral victory, the other person said. Though that message resonates strongly with the president’s core voters, Mr. Bannon has sparred both with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and with Gary Cohn, one of the president’s top economic advisers.

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Bannon has tussled most frequently with Mr. Cohn, the people said. The two men, both with blue-collar backgrounds, have jockeyed over where they sit in meetings. But the bigger issue between them has been changes to the federal tax code and international trade, the people said. Mr. Cohn has suggested the possibility of a carbon tax, which Mr. Bannon views as anathema to the “economic nationalism” that he infused into Mr. Trump’s campaign, the people said. “Steve is willing to go to war on policy,” one person said, adding he was determined to cede no ground to Mr. Cohn.

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One friend of Mr. Bannon said Mr. Trump would be wise to keep him in his current role, describing him as someone who will stay true to the insurgent, outsider spirit that drove the campaign... Still, Mr. Bannon’s role has seemed narrower in recent days. He was removed earlier this week from the National Security Council. He was also intended to help lead an internal consultancy that relies on outside groups and business leaders to reshape the federal government. Now known as the Office of American Innovation, that project has just one boss: Mr. Kushner.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-considering-major-shakeup-of-senior-white-house-team-1491588185