Christopher Ruddy, the head of the conservative media giant Newsmax and a member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla, had drinks with his old friend on Friday night, according to an interview with CNN anchor Brian Stelter on the Sunday show "Reliable Sources." Ruddy and Trump discussed what he viewed as the shortcomings of White House chief-of-staff Reince Priebus and Ruddy surprisingly went public with what he told Trump.
'The guy (Reince Priebus) is in over his head' says Trump pal
The most stunning comment from Mr. Ruddy to the CNN anchor was that it's "pretty clear the guy (Reince Priebus) is in way over his head." He went on to slam the disasters in the White House past three weeks including things like a "lack of knowledge of how federal agencies work" and a lack of knowledge of how the communications operations work.
He also blamed him for botching "this whole immigration rollout." He added that "This should’ve been a win for Donald, not two or three weeks of negative publicity.”
Ruddy gets pushback on his comments
It is not known whether President Trump shares his friend's view of Mr. Priebus and the negative view of the way things have gone in the White House since Jan. 20. This could be Trump's way of sending a warning out through his trusted friend. However, Mr. Ruddy later backtracked in a tweet about his earlier comments, apparently as a result of a phone call from Mr. Priebus.
Reince just briefed me on new WH plans. Impressive! CNN today my personal view. Told him I have 'open mind' based on his results.
— Christopher Ruddy (@ChrisRuddyNMX) February 12, 2017
Just a short time later, Mr.
Ruddy tweeted that Trump son-in-law and influential White House staffer, Jared Kushner, said that "COS Reince" is doing an "amazing job."
Jared Kushner tells me COS Reince is doing "amazing job." Disagrees with me!
— Christopher Ruddy (@ChrisRuddyNMX) February 13, 2017
Kellyanne Conway would love to be Trump's COS
In Mike Allen's "Axios AM" report, he feels for Mr.
Priebus because of the speculation that his days in the White House may be numbered. Allen mentions that Kellyanne Conway has been quoted as saying that her dream job is "White House chief-of-staff."
One thing is certain in the White House. Change is coming and it looks to be sooner rather than later. According to Allen, Trump does not respect people that have not been successful financially and that would include Priebus. The change could come shortly as it did during the campaign when Paul Manafort was purged over his ties to Russia and the Ukraine.
