OPINION:
At many of President Trump’s 2016 rallies, he warned of the dangers of “The Snake,” stealing lyrics from Oscar Brown Jr.’s song of the same name. In the parable, a “tenderhearted woman” finds a half-frozen snake and rescues it, only to be bitten by it once it has been resuscitated.
Mr. Trump would use the metaphor to warn of unfettered immigration, the “deep state” trying to undermine change, and the federal government adopting policies, with the best of intentions, that often undermined its own citizenry.
Eleven months into his second term, Mr. Trump would be wise to heed his own warning. He should start by looking within his own ranks.
His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, invited a snake into Mr. Trump’s White House before Inauguration Day. For the past year, Ms. Wiles has granted more than 11 on-the-record interviews to Vanity Fair, a glossy magazine read by limousine liberals, hardly the fare consumed by Mr. Trump’s rank-and-file voters. The author? Chris Whipple, who literally wrote a book on the roles of former chiefs of staff.
The result was a two-part profile of Ms. Wiles, published this week. She described it as a “hit piece” that took her comments “out of context.” It was accompanied by unflattering pictures of all Mr. Trump’s inner circle, as well as a group shot that re-created one of the most infamous photos of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet, captured in the same room of the White House from nearly the same angle.
Whoever thought mirroring a Republican administration that Mr. Trump had railed about on the campaign trail for starting “never-ending wars” and that didn’t put “America First,” is a snake undermining the very platform that helped Mr. Trump win the election.
In the interview, Ms. Wiles openly acknowledged several White House failures, trashed some in Mr. Trump’s Cabinet and acknowledged Mr. Trump’s narco-boat strikes in the Caribbean were a pretext for regime change in Venezuela. Regime change?
Some have viewed Ms. Wiles’ interview as a way to “reset” the Trump administration as it moves into the new year. Ms. Wiles was critical of the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation efforts, saying the agency should be more selective and transparent about who is being targeted. She singled out Attorney General Pam Bondi for “whiffing” on the Epstein files and essentially lying to the public that she had the case on her desk ready for release. Ms. Wiles complained that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts were too rash and indiscriminate.
Whatever Ms. Wiles’ intentions, her public statements did nothing to help the Trump administration achieve its “America First” goals. Her concerns could have been conveyed privately. Yet the dance with the left-wing media proved too irresistible, for whatever the selfish reasoning, at the time.
Another fumble this week came from FBI Director Kash Patel. After the shooting at Brown University, with the gunman still at large, Mr. Patel thought it wise to release a cringeworthy “love story” podcast with his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins.
In it, Mr. Patel defended his use of the FBI’s private jet to visit Ms. Wilkins to attend concerts and sporting events. The couple also took the time to deny accusations that the FBI director ordered a security detail assigned to Ms. Wilkins to escort one of her drunken friends home after a wild night out in Nashville, Tennessee. Online rumors were also addressed: No, Ms. Wilkins is not an agent of Mossad.
It was a highly unserious interview, meant for self-aggrandizement. Mr. Patel prematurely bragged over the weekend about the bureau’s work in tracking down a “person of interest” in the Brown shooting, only to have that person released a few hours later. The killer’s whereabouts are still unknown. Yes, Mr. Patel made the podcast before this weekend’s events; the fumble was releasing it.
Last, it’s apparent that Mr. Trump is frustrated with how the American public is viewing his job on the economy. Poll after poll shows Mr. Trump failing on the “affordability” promise he made on the 2024 campaign trail.
On Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump gave a prime-time address, most likely hastily drawn up by White House staff to deflect from Ms. Wiles’ disastrous Vanity Fair profile. In it, he essentially yelled at the American public for not believing in him and his policies. It reminded me of President Joe Biden urging voters not to believe their lying eyes.
Instead of using the address to promote and explain Mr. Trump’s policies and signed bills, the White House communications staff thought it better to use the time to unveil plaques near the Oval Office that berated Mr. Trump’s recent Democratic predecessors in the style of Mr. Trump’s social media posts.
Under Mr. Biden’s portrait on the White House’s Presidential Walk of Fame (which was already a picture of an autopen), Mr. Trump wrote, “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.” The statement may be accurate, but is it necessary? What does it accomplish for the American people? How does it address the affordability crisis he has been confronted with?
The American people have a great deal of confidence in Mr. Trump’s policies, and he is winning when it comes to securing the southern border, lowering energy prices, attracting investments in America, ending foreign wars and restoring sanity in gender and diversity, equity and inclusion guidelines.
However, the White House’s outsized focus on trolling, influencer podcasts and sit-downs with legacy media — whether for self-promotion, self-satisfaction or purely for fun — is a distraction.
Mr. Trump’s legacy and Republican majorities will be at stake if he doesn’t address these snakes from within, kill the diversions and concentrate on solving the issues for which the American people voted him into office.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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