Scarymucci's gone

Oh my God, that has to be the quickest sacking in White House history. Just ten days Anthony Scarymucci lasted as White House director of communications. He didn't even have time to pick up his pay cheque before he was hoofed out. I would have loved to be the fly on the wall in the Oval House but I know for sure what went on. General John Kelly, jaw thrust forward as only a four-star general in the Marine Corps can do it, demands to see Trump. In he goes and says the following: "It's Scarymucci or me Mr President. I can't be your chief of staff with that foul-mouthed wanker, sorry, banker sitting down the corridor. He goes or I go." Trump prefers generals to Wall Street bankers,so he agrees to fire Scarymucci. General John Kelly is now boss of bosses. Whoever replaces Scarymucci will be closely vetted by the general but what's the betting it will be a former military man? Scarymucci and Disney Priebus and Jack Comey and all the others who have been fired or resigned, no doubt to be followed soon by Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, must be wondering what the hell is going on. Actually Scarymucci was the easiest one to fire. He was so rude and loud-mouthed and obnoxious that even Trump must have regretted appointing him although he loves a bit of chaos. It has certainly been a topsy-turvy few weeks. Never mind that Kim Jong-un can now hit Chicago with an intercontinental ballistic missile, Xi Zinping is showing off his military might, Maduro is destroying democracy in Venezuela, and Putin is kicking out most of America's spies from Moscow! Let's look on the bright side. General Kelly is a good man. He'll sort out Trump, possibly. But a word of warning, general, don't try and tell Trump what to do, don't try and stop him tweeting. As some wise old bird said, Trump is Trump and ain't no one goin' to change him.

A coup at the White House

The generals are taking over at the White House. Trump loves "my generals". With Disney Priebus gone in a flash after the Scarymucci scolding, in comes four-star General John Kelly, a Marine Corps man to his fingertips. If he can't get control of the White House and keep it in good order, no one can. But Kelly, moved from the Department of Homeland Security, will find the White House a very different place to be in charge. Running his own department is one thing. Generals are good at that because they know how to command men and women and they are good at strategic planning. But the White House is a hotbed of political in-fighting. He will find it much more of a challenge to keep the likes of Stephen Bannon, chief strategist, and Anthony Scarymucci, new director of communications and filthy language, under control. But being a retired four-star Marine general he will no doubt focus on the one main job, to keep Trump happy and informed, and fight off the political rats and foxes when they try to stir the waters. It will be an eye-opener for Kelly who is a pretty straight talker and normally gets what he wants. He joins Lieutenant-General HR McMaster, National Security Adviser, which will be an interesting partnership. Kelly is a four-star and McMaster is a still-serving three-star, but in the White House, military star ratings won't really count. Kelly as chief organiser and mastermind of Trump's life as president will need to show respect to McMaster but he will not allow anyone to order him around. Kelly is now the boss of the White House - below Trump of course. He will be in on everything that goes on in the Oval Office, and his words of advise will have a big impact on the president. And Trump can be sure as hell that General Kelly won't start leaking classified stuff to the press. Marine generals don't leak, period! Not that I'm accusing Priebus of leaking. It seems to me to be highly doubtful that he was behind all the recent leaks, despite Scarymucci's blatant allegations. But Kelly will stamp his authority on the White House and anyone caught even thinking about leaking will find out what it's like to be punished by a four-star general. So the era of Kelly begins. But how long will it take before Kelly and Scarymucci lock horns, and who will win? For my money, Kelly will see off the Wall Street banker. Scarymucci has caused such consternation and confusion since he took over last week as director of comunications that Kelly will need to sort him out straightaway. Sort him out well and good, never mind what Trump thinks. Otherwise Kelly will himself not last long as Trump's second chief of staff in six months.

White House finger-pointing

There will be no whitewash in the White House. Perhaps one of the most famous statements from the Oval Office in modern times. President Richard Nixon promising to be transparent over the Watergate burglary. Bill Clinton's denial of having sex with the White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, was another memorable moment. The Nixon affair led to his resignation. The Clinton affair led to a failed attempt at impeachment. Now what will Trump's fate be? What will be his most famous statement? Right now his White House looks and sounds like a school playground, with everyone shouting at each other, no one trusting each other, new people coming in swinging accusations around, no one taking charge. It's ripe for disaster. No wonder every American living hundreds or thousands of miles away from Washington thinks DC is a swamp full of hippos flopping around and getting muddier and muddier. The latest fun and games emerged almost as soon as Anthony Scarymucci arrived as the new director of communications. He started pointing fingers at White House leakers, especially the Disney man, Reince Priebus, the chief of staff (I nicknamed Priebus Disney in a previous blog because the name sounds like something out of a Disney film). And doing it in public, in interviews. Just who does he think he is? Does he think he's the president? This man is a goofball, all slick and smart and fancies himself. He's the director of communications,for heaven's sake, not the director of the FBI. Well we know what happens to directors of the FBI in the Trump administration. They get fired. So it won't be long before Scaramucci gets shown the door. Why on earth did Trump appoint him in the first place? He has no experience in public relations, he's a hedge fund guy. Why did Trump think that makes him a perfect candidate to run White House communications? No wonder Sean Spicer resigned. Now we know for sure, he couldn't stand the sight of Scarymucci. And for good reason. But out of curiosity, why did Scarymucci accuse Disney Priebus of leaking stuff from the White House? There is no question that someone is leaking highly embarrassing material to the newspapers. The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are full of the wonderful White House tittle tattle. But could it really be the chief of staff himself? If Scaramucci is right and Disney confesses or is found out, he HAS to go. No president can survive with one of his most important appointments betraying him. But what evidence does Scarymucci have? Or is he, at his new master's behest, deliberately stirring the waters because Trump wants Disney out but doesn't have the balls to do it himself. A bit like his attacks on Jeff Sessions. If Trump wants the attorney general to go, he should fire him, never mind the consequences. But instead he keeps on insinuating via poisonous tweets that Sessions is a dead duck walking. What a way to run a government.

Afghanistan is waiting Mr Trump

Nobody has a clue what's going on in Trump's mind over Afghanistan. Jim Mattis, the US Defence Secretary, said a long time ago that a new strategy on Afghanistan was nearly ready and that it would cover not just Afghanistan but also all the neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan and India. Since then, nothing. All that talk of sending up to 4,000 more US troops is, at present, all talk and no action. Meanwhile, the Taliban is on a killing spree. There is still no official appointed at the Pentagon to mastermind Afghanistan policy. Discussions in the White House on the way forward end in arguments and disagreement. Trump basically needs to make a decision. Is he prepared to send a mini-surge of troops to Afghanistan, and if he is, what does he want them to do? Trump is so obsessed with attacking his Attorney General, shouting at those investigating the Russia collusion issue, and destroying Obamacare that foreign policy is being pushed to the backburner. We're told North Korea is now a year away from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that can reach part of the US. But if there is a plan A, B and C, Trump has only got as far as bellowing a warning about military action but no one, least of all Kim Jong-un, seems to believe him. Six months have gone by and the word, Afghanistan, has hardly passed his lips. By the time he makes up his mind, the snows will be returning to Afghanistan and the fighting season will be over. Of course it's right for major policy decisions to come together after proper thought and discussion. But the US had a president before who took too long to make up his mind. No one thought that Trump, with his bold promises during the election campaign, would follow the example of Barack Obama. It's time for action, Mr President. Afghanistan is waiting.

Jared Kushner, the cool customer

So Jared Kushner is innocent ok?! He's also a pretty cool customer. His 11-page explanation of everything he did and said involving Russians during the election campaign and also during the transition period looks transparent and honest. There's no obvious attempt to omit or deceive. There's no hint of anger, although there must have been times when he felt extremely angry at the way his character was being besmirched in some of the Washington newspapers. Many of the stories about him were full of innuendo, and in one case, a Reuters report claiming that he had made two phone calls to the Russian ambassador to Washington, our old friend Sergey Kislyak, may just be untrue. Kushner said he could find no evidence that he had made such calls. He said he checked all his phone records. So perhaps that report was a little bit of black propaganda which Reuters fell for. I have read and reread those 11 pages and they seem genuine to me. It will be difficult I think for even the most hardened anti-Trump newspapers and broadcasters to claim that Kushner's statement is full of lies and omissions. Unlike his father-in-law, Kushner does not seek the limelight, and his statement reads like a man who feels he has been wronged and wants to put the record straight. Perhaps others in the Trump inner circle should follow his example and speak plainly and simply without all the bombast. But his claim of total innocence doesn't mean the Russians were not involved in meddling in the election and peddling mischief. I believe they were doing both, meddling and peddling, and Jared Kushner was caught up on the fringes of the Russian game but without any malice, let alone criminality. Jared Kushner is a cool customer but not a devious plotter, colluding with Moscow. From my reading of the 11-page statement, the FBI can cross him off from their list of "persons of interest".

Sean Spicer's last press conference

Sean Spicer enters the White House press room for the last time. Every chair and space is taken. A packed audience. The whole of the White House Press Corps is there, plus every foreign correspondent based in DC. The latter all have to stand because the chairs have names on the back: these are the representatives from Fox News, NBC, CBS, New York Times etc. Spicer is wearing a light grey with yellow stripes suit, a green tie and orange shirt. Impeccable as ever. Spicer: I have nothing to announce today other than this is my last press conference before you all. I just wanted to say, it is totally wrong to say I have resigned because I'm upset at the president's appointment of Mr Scarymucci... Shouted voice from the front row: "Scaramucci!!" Spicer: "Sorry, Scaramucci. It has nothing to do with Scary...Scaramucci. I just decided I wanted to spend more time with my family. I've had six wonderful months serving the best president this country has ever had." Washington Post: "What, better than Abraham Lincoln, Franklyn D Roosevelt, George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Kennedy.....?" Spicer: "Better than Obama." New York Times: "You said best in the history of the US." Spicer: "I can't believe you're twisting my words. What I said was, President Trump was the best since Obama." New York Times: "But Trump is the only president since Obama." Spicer: "I never said Trump was the best, I just said he was the best president I have ever worked for." New York Times: "But you haven't worked for any other president." Spicer: "You're all the same, you people. You just twist words and claim I say things I never said." Washington Post: "You definitely said Trump was the best president this country has ever had." Spicer: "Yes I believe he is." New York Times: "So, as I was saying, better than Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, Eisenhower, Kennedy..." Spicer: "I never said Trump was better than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln." New York Times: "Yes you did." Spicer: "No. I didn't." New York Times: "Yes you did, you said Trump was the best president...": Spicer: "I never compared him to Lincoln." New York Times: "If you say Trump is the best president in the history of our country, then that's tantamount to saying he's better than Lincoln." Spicer: "Tantamount is a long word." New York Times reporter guffaws. Spicer: "Does anyone have a sensible question to ask?" ABC: "Was Lincoln worse than Trump as president of the United States?" Spicer: "I didn't serve Lincoln." Guffaws throughout the room. Spicer: "You see!! This is why I have resigned. It's because of you. You are not serious journalists." ABC: "Actually we are just doing our job, you are the one preventing us from doing it properly because you come out with stuff and then expect all of us just to broadcast it as gospel. But if we say on the next bulletin that you said Trump was the best president in the history of the US, and then compare Trump to Lincoln and Kennedy you will no doubt say it's all fake news and that you never said it." Spicer: "I never mentioned Lincoln." ABC: "That's not the point. The point is, if you think Trump is the best president, then we have the right to compare Trump's achievements with, say, Lincoln and George Washington." Spicer: "I never mentioned George Washington." Wall Street Journal: "What about Ronald Reagan? Is he better than Reagan?" Spicer: "I never mentioned Reagan." Wall Street Journal: "What about George W Bush?" Spicer: "You've got to be kidding me." New York Times: "So, let's get this clear, you definitely think Trump is a better president than George W Bush?" Spicer: "I never mentioned Bush." Washington Post: "Do you think Hillary Clinton would have made a better president than Trump?" Spicer: "Hillary Clinton should be in jail." Washington Post: "So you did manage to mention Hillary Clinton?" Spicer: "Trump defeated her by the biggest majority in the history of the United States." Washington Post: "But that's simply not true." Spicer: "Right, that's a wrap. I've had enough of you. Goodbye. I'm off to spend time with my family. Good luck with Scarymucci."

Trump's first six months

Donald Trump's greatest achievement since becoming President of the USA on January 20 is that he has provoked a trillion words of disbelief, anger, confusion, amazement, despair, hilarity and depression around the world. There is probably not a single individual on the planet above the age of seven who has not formed an opinion about the 45th US president. Ask any child in any country who Trump is, and he/she will have an answer. It will not often be to his liking. Trump's first six months have been like no other American president's first six months. He has wallowed in accusation and allegation. He has been the bete noire of almost every US major newspaper and broadcaster. Sometimes the Washington Post has seven or eight opinion pieces on Trump in the paper on the same day, most of them saying the same thing one way or the other. All bad. It's an incredible achievement. Trump has created a mass market all by himself. The whole world has become Trumpetised. Now maybe this is what he set out to do, to grab the attention of the planet and put his Trump stamp on everything, from global trade to climate change, immigration and, well, Muslims. He selected seven, then reduced to six, countries, mostly made up of Muslim citizens and basically said, keep away from America, we don't want you. This is the land of the free, the moral superpower. Well, no longer. Whatever Robert Mueller comes up with after completing his investigation into alleged collusion between Moscow and the Trump team during the election campaign, we already know what the president will say. If it's a clean bill of health, he will scream: "I told you so, I told you it was all a waste of time, just fake fake fake news." If Mueller uncovers prima facie evidence of collusion with really senior Trump people, whether associates, family or even Trump himself, then the president will tell all his supporters: "This is a conspiracy, a total witchhunt, Mueller is a bad man, I shall carry on regardless". And he will carry on regardless. Don't think, Mr Mueller, that if you produce a damning report for the Justice Department, it will make any difference to the White House encumbent. He is here to stay, well at least for his full four-year term and probably another four years after that. There will be no Trump downfall. Everything will be denied and dismissed. In fact, Mueller might as well pack up and take his bucket and spade to the beach. Trump ain't going nowhere!!