Kelly cracks down on West Wing back channels to Trump

Since starting this week, Kelly has told aides that anyone briefing the president needs to show him the information first. The Trump West Wing tradition of aides dropping off articles on the president’s desk — then waiting for him to react, with a screaming phone call or a hastily scheduled staff meeting, must stop. He will not accept aides walking into the Oval Office and telling the president information without permission — or without the information being vetted.

“He basically said, ‘The president has to get good briefings, he has to get good intelligence,’” one senior White House official said. “We have to be putting him in a position to make good decisions.”