First Donald Trump ignited the fury of conservatives by embracing gun control measures in his signature freewheeling style. Then came the resignation of his longest-serving political aide. By the next morning, the stock market was plunging in the wake of Trump’s unexpected policy announcement on trade.
While the US president is no stranger to chaos – it has been a hallmark of his year-long tenure – the last 24 hours brought turmoil to the White House that was exhausting, even by Trump’s standards.
The perfect storm has arrived as Trump seeks to broker a deal on gun control following the 14 February high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead. The president convened a meeting on Wednesday afternoon with a bipartisan group of senators, reminiscent of a similarly televised policy discussion he held on immigration.
But within hours, Trump had left lawmakers on Capitol Hill scrambling by backing comprehensive gun control measures long opposed by the National Rifle Association and congressional Republicans. The president signaled he would support universal background checks and new age restrictions on gun purchases; he even toyed with the idea of an assault weapons ban.
Lawmakers had been eyeing a narrow compromise on background checks. But Trump’s endorsement of more expansive reforms, however temporary, gave ammunition to Democrats to bolster their demands of the Republican-led Congress.
Back at the White House, the focus on policy was short-lived. Late on Wednesday afternoon, the White House communications director, Hope Hicks, announced her resignation.
Hicks had testified the day before to congressional investigators on Russia that she occasionally had to tell white lies to appease her boss. While Hicks said she had long been mulling her exit, her decision to leave marked the latest high-profile departure from the White House and left Trump without one of his closest and most loyal confidantes.
By Thursday morning, Trump had moved on to other matters.
He used Twitter first thing to blast his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, over the justice department’s handling of the Russia investigation. The attack drew a rare riposte from Sessions, prompting speculation over his future in the administration.
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, was later unable to say if Trump planned to fire Sessions, simply stating: “Not that I know of.”
The turbulence continued throughout the day.
On Thursday afternoon, Roberta Jacobson, the US ambassador to Mexico, said she was resigning from her post. Although the veteran diplomat did not specify the reason for her departure, the announcement came amid strained relations with Trump, who has overseen a swift deterioration in US-Mexico relations.
Trump was meanwhile poised to set off another firestorm. In a sudden move, Trump said his administration would impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as early as next week.
The decision, made against the will of some of the president’s top advisers, sent the stock market into a tailspin and escalated the prospect of a global trade war.
Even Trump’s former aides acknowledged the volatility at the White House had soared to new heights.
“The morale is terrible … It’s messed up,” another former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, told CNN Thursday.
“It’ll be up to the president to figure out if he wants to fix it or not.”
