RUSH: H. R. McMaster is cleaning house. He’s getting rid of every conservative on the National Security Council. He’s Trump’s national security director, and he’s brooming everybody.
Every conservative and every Trumpist is being broomed out of the National Security Council. There’s something going on there, and I’m gonna delve into it. But I just saw something that I want to comment on, and I didn’t know that it was going on. Apparently, the new chief of staff, General Kelly — a retired four-star, right — has just limited access to the Oval Office. Do you know what’s been going on in there? (interruption) Apparently… (interruption) What? Apparently, the door to the Oval Office has been open and anybody on the staff has been able to walk in there and, say, put an article that they either wrote or that they find interesting from some website or blog on the desk for Trump to read.
I mean, apparently it’s been an endless parade of people that have been able to get in there. Even when Trump is conducting meetings, that door apparently can be opened. People have been able to walk in there! And that is the epitome of self-interest. Look, folks, I have experience with this. You ought to see my email during the course of a program. You wouldn’t believe it. If I don’t shut it down, I have 30 people sending me things that they think I ought to use, and, if I use it, you know what happens. They call all their friends.
They hope Trump sees it, says something about it, reacts to it, does something. Then they call all their friends, “Hey, I got a direct line to the president! The president listens to me!” I know that stuff has been happening. That may be one of the sources of all the problems coming out of the Oval Office with so many people having access to it. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. The chief of staff, in a normally functioning White House, does indeed limit who gets in there. You gotta go through him, and that’s what Kelly has just reestablished, or just maybe established. That the door’s closed.
Anybody who wants to see Trump for whatever purpose has to clear it through Kelly. Now, that can also lead to problems. You know, if Kelly doesn’t want Trump to see certain things that Trump ought to see, well, then Trump is not gonna see ’em. I mean, this cuts both ways. But you just can’t have… With the office of the president of the United States, you cannot have an open door with anybody in the world being able to walk in there and drop down a pet issue that they have on his desk to try to get him to talk about it or think about it or react to it or what have you.
Besides that, nobody can deal with that much stimulation. I mean, if the president’s sitting there and there’s 15 or 20 things deposited on his desk — random things — every day, and he’s going through ’em trying to make sense of ’em or whatever? It leads to lack of discipline, leads to confusion. It takes highly trained professionals like me to be able to sift through that kind of stuff. I have all kinds of people who want to help. You ought to see the last 15 minutes before this program starts.
The email I get the last 15 minutes before the program starts is twice what I get in the two hours before it — and the two hours before it is double what most people get in a week! I know how this stuff works. But it shouldn’t be happening in the Oval Office. There is no way. So I’m glad that General Kelly has shut this down, but I’m also concerned that General Kelly has shut this down. Because now who does get in to see Trump? No, don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that enemies get in there. It’s not enemies. It’s people trying to help. This is even worse!
That may be the way the Trump organization worked on the Fifth Avenue, and I know that Trump had this policy of pitting executives against each other because he liked the competition. He thought it brought out the best in everybody. But here in the Oval Office? Uhh, it’s just not working. We know that some of these people are leaking! I mean, the transcripts now — the full transcripts — of Trump’s calls with the presidents of Mexico and Australia from six months ago have been published in the Washington Post. Now, who can get their hands on those?
In fact, those transcripts make Trump look pretty good when you get right down to it, and they disapprove that Trump hung up on the guy from Australia. And he was telling the president of Mexico (paraphrased): “Would you stop bellyaching? You’re gonna pay for the wall. You’re gonna pay for it. Stop telling people you’re not.” (interruption) Washington…? (interruption) Well, they can’t blame Priebus for this one. Well, not necessarily. Unless Priebus took the stuff home and called the Washington Post from home. Who knows! I’m not accusing anybody.
I’m just telling you: When you have that many people who apparently have had that kind of access? I mean, if you could walk into the Oval Office and put things on the desk (chuckles), you can just as easily pick something off the desk and take it out if there’s anything there to be picked up and taken out. Not that sensitive documents are lying around on the desktop in the Oval. I don’t think that’s the case. But I was a little shocked is and surprised to see that, and I just had to comment on it, ’cause it’s just… I don’t care how smart, I don’t care how compartmentalized, I don’t care how disciplined an individual is.
Who knows? I bet it did happen that way. Somebody at Boy Scouts called somebody in the executive branch, in the office of the White House — the West Wing — and in general conversation said, “Yeah, it was great the president came out here. Man, it was great. The Scouts loved him!” This kid walks in, “We just heard the Boy Scouts loved it!” Trump, by the time that he tells the story, they called him. Who knows?
When you have that much access with this many people, you cannot discount the self-interest at this level of power.
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