Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Sign up for Axios Pro Rata
Dive into the world of dealmakers across VC, PE and M&A with Axios Pro Rata. Delivered daily to your inbox by Dan Primack and Kia Kokalitcheva.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Want a daily digest of the top Nashville news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Nashville newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Columbus news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Columbus newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Dallas news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Dallas newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Austin news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Austin newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Atlanta news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Atlanta newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Philadelphia news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Philadelphia newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Chicago news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Chicago newsletter.
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
Want a daily digest of the top DC news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios DC newsletter.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
LBJ withheld the title of chief of staff from his top aides, and President Trump is now living out that fantasy even with John Kelly in the building.
As part of his exasperation with being handled, Trump has taken to telling friends that — like Lyndon Johnson — he doesn't even need a chief.
- And now, with Trump and his new TV lawyer Rudy Giuliani conducting their own media-legal operation with little to no White House oversight, it’s becoming a reality.
Steve Bannon — who has zero contact with Trump these days and is loathed by many in the building — has told associates that Trump never had any respect for the chief of staff position and from the outset saw it as a lowly, administrative post.
- It needed to be explained to Trump that this was one of the most powerful roles in the U.S. government.
- Trump has never fully grasped the concept. Sources close to Trump repeat the cliché that he wants to run the White House like the Trump Organization — an unstructured family business where he woke most days unsure of what lay ahead, and ran his business like a series of jazz improv sets.
- Back then, he spent his days on the phone, taking calls, receiving ideas, making decisions on pure gut instinct with a disdain for sophisticated data or prescriptions from consultants.
Now, Trump is effectively running the White House the same way:
- The Trump 'n' Rudy show of the past few days has operated entirely independently of the White House communications department.
- Giuliani and Trump are playing a different game, and the staff inside the building only learn about the plays by watching them on TV.
- White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders effectively conceded yesterday she’s been operating in the dark with her previous answers to questions about payments made to Stormy Daniels. (It’s not the first time Sanders has had to repeat lines from her boss that have quickly proven false.)
A source who speaks to Kelly often told Swan the chief is now resigned to the fact that he can’t come close to controlling Trump:
- The reality is that nobody can and nobody ever will.
- Whoever replaces Kelly — if, indeed, anybody does — will have to accept that there’s no such thing as a chief of staff in Trump’s White House.
Get more stories like this by signing up for our weekly political lookahead newsletter, Axios Sneak Peek.