But according to several people familiar with Trump’s thinking, if this latest health care gambit fails, Priebus is likely to catch the blame — and could be shown the door.
According to people who have interacted with Priebus in recent days, the chief of staff’s unease is palpable as Trump continues to demand that elements of his agenda be handled differently. There remains a sense among aides that Priebus cannot find any way to please his boss, who remains deeply frustrated at the pitfalls his administration has encountered since taking office.
The rising stature inside the West Wing of Kushner, the influential senior adviser, and Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter, has consolidated power even more among the Trump family, Republicans close the White House say…
Another official stressed that a new power center has emerged in the West Wing that pointedly does not include Bannon. Instead, a pair of former Goldman Sachs executives — Gary Cohn and Dina Powell — appear to be in favor. Cohn acts as Trump’s chief economic adviser and Powell is a deputy national security adviser. Both are viewed internally as close to Kushner, a dynamic that rankled those in the White House close to Bannon — who have come to term Cohn as “Globalist Gary,” an insult for those aligned with the Bannon’s populist views.
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