‘He’s a Loose Cannon’: Trump’s Staffers Are Losing Their Minds Behind Closed Doors as He Blows Up His Own White House, and He Keeps Grabbing a Microphone and Making It Worse
A president standing in front of a construction project and asking Americans for a little patience is hardly unusual during President Donald Trump’s second term.
What is unusual is doing it while gasoline prices hover above $4.50 a gallon, inflation is climbing again, and voters are growing increasingly anxious about their household budgets.
Yet that is the balancing act now confronting Trump’s White House, where aides are trying to keep public attention on affordability even as Trump repeatedly veers into topics ranging from ballroom construction to political score-settling.
The disconnect has reportedly left White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and her team in a difficult position.
As economic concerns deepen amid the ongoing Iran conflict, staffers have been instructed to stay focused on cost-of-living issues while Trump continues talking about his broader mix of priorities, going as far as last month to say he doesn’t consider Americans’ pain at the gas pump “not even a little bit” as the war continues.
The result, according to current and former administration insiders, is a two-track messaging operation that has struggled to persuade voters that the White House is focused on the economic pressures they are feeling every day.
President Trump’s economic standing has deteriorated as inflation and fuel costs have climbed during the fourth month of the Iran conflict. Recent polling cited by administration critics paints a troubling picture.
A New York Times/Siena survey found just 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while Gallup reported confidence in the economy has fallen to nearly a four-year low. Only 16 percent of respondents rated economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” and three-quarters said conditions are worsening.
Behind the scenes, White House officials reportedly have settled on a strategy that acknowledges a political reality: Trump is unlikely to change his habits.
“There are two tracks: There is what the president says, and then there’s what you as a staff member message on,” MS NOW reports it was told by an unnamed White House official.
Under that approach, Cabinet agencies have attempted to weave affordability themes into their public messaging. Officials pointed to efforts by the Small Business Administration to reduce fraud in loan guarantees and actions by the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back certain refrigeration requirements for grocery stores. Both initiatives have been presented as attempts to lower costs for consumers.
But critics inside Trump’s broader political orbit argue those efforts are being drowned out by the president’s own priorities.
Rather than narrowing his focus during an inflationary period, Trump has spent considerable time promoting projects such as a new White House ballroom, renovations to the National Mall reflecting pool, the SAVE America Act, the Abraham Accords, and the controversial $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. He has also continued backing efforts to remove Republican lawmakers viewed as disloyal.
The contrast stands out because presidents facing economic distress have often concentrated their messaging almost exclusively on jobs, prices, and financial relief. During the Great Recession, former President Barack Obama centered much of his public agenda around economic recovery measures, stimulus spending, job creation, tax relief, and financial stabilization programs.
Trump has instead argued that current price pressures are tied largely to the Iran conflict and has suggested costs will ease once the war ends. He has also highlighted record stock market performance as evidence that the economy remains fundamentally strong.
One recent appearance became a flashpoint for critics. While visiting the ballroom construction site last week, Trump brushed aside concerns about higher gasoline costs, describing them as “peanuts” and saying he appreciated “everybody putting up with it for a little while.”
Former advisers viewed the moment as politically damaging.
The same May 28 MS NOW report cited an unnamed former Trump White House official as saying: “While beautifying our nation’s capital is surely important and appreciated, if you don’t live, work, or visit D.C., you don’t really reap the benefits of the president’s passion projects. What people do feel is $4.50 gas, and that’s the real passion point for Americans.”
Another former Trump adviser told MS NOW that the administration has failed to keep the president focused on the issue voters care about most.
“I think it’s a failure on the part of his staff,” the aforementioned former Trump adviser said. “They’re not focused on the issues that Americans are focused on, which is obviously affordability.”
The adviser singled out the Anti-Weaponization Fund, the ballroom project, some recent immigration policies, and Trump’s campaign against incumbent Republicans as examples of what they described as misplaced priorities.
“While obviously the president is going to do what the president is going to do, his staff has just so ill prepared him or ill informed him of the political consequences of what he’s doing,” the former adviser said. “It’s malpractice.”
“The impact of higher gas prices is still putting pressure on inflation,” wrote Michael Pearce, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, according to Investopedia. “We expect inflation to nudge higher in May, but the key for the Federal Reserve is what is happening to underlying inflation.”
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, offered an even starker assessment.
“Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” Long wrote, according to The Associated Press. “There is a real financial squeeze underway. For the first time in three years, inflation is eating up all wage gains. This is a setback for middle-class and lower-income households and they know it. They are having to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar.”
The challenge may only intensify in the weeks ahead. The administration is preparing an elaborate celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, including a major UFC event and a large gathering on the White House grounds scheduled for June 14, which also happens to be Trump’s birthday. While the event is designed to showcase patriotism and national pride, rising fuel costs and travel expenses threaten to complicate the message.
“It’s easier to herd cats than to keep a senile man on message,” wrote one MSN reader. “he is a loose cannon,” another added.