Ever since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, America has been divided over the true state of the country.
For conservatives and Trump supporters, America seems to finally be improving after eight years of former President Barack Obama’s leadership. For everyone else though, the past year has been a never-ending nightmare where every newsbreak increases their anxiety.
At this point, some people need to find hope somewhere in Washington just for them to sleep soundly at night. This action is simply human nature, but the current White House has shown time and time again there is nothing to have faith in.
Even during the campaign, some liberals and Democrats sought comfort in Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter and senior advisor. Despite her never saying it explicitly, many people assumed she would moderate her father. If this was her purpose, she has failed miserably.
As Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post states, “What good is Ivanka Trump? She was there to protect the Paris Accords, right? Nope. She was there to settle the president down, prevent him from errant decisions and cringe-worthy remarks? No, she sure didn’t do that.”
Rubin continues, but her point is clear: Ivanka is not someone liberals should have any faith in.
Throughout this administration, she has done next to nothing to curve Trump’s rhetoric, push for more moderate ideas or even prove she is qualified for her current position in the White House. The complete lack of evidence toward Ivanka’s influence over the president, or even for her main purpose in the administration, led many to question if she was merely complacent toward her father’s actions.
She responded in late November last year by stating, “If being complicit is wanting to, is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact then I’m complicit.”
As you probably know, this is not the definition of complicit. Basically, she did not answer a fairly easy question. Even months later, there is still no evidence proving Ivanka has any influence over Trump. Any hope Ivanka would be a calming force in the White House is simply unfounded.
Often times, Ivanka is mentioned alongside her husband, Jared Kushner. Many hoped their combined efforts would diversify Trump’s cabinet and would improve his worldview.
Ivanka has already proved she has little control over her father. Kushner, on the other hand, seems to be even more complicit toward Trump, and even more underqualified than Ivanka.
For reasons still unknown to the general public, Trump decided early into his presidency to dump several important jobs on Kushner’s shoulders, including solving the opioid crisis and finding peace in the Middle East. With such important roles in the White House, it is easy to assume Trump thinks very highly of Kushner, and Kushner could swing Trump away from his more radical ideas. However, recent news suggests any hope in Kushner as an influential voice of reason is flawed.
According to John Santucci, Jonathan Karl and Cecilia Vega with ABC News, Kushner’s security clearance was downgraded due to his conflict of interests in the business world. Several world leaders even allegedly had a discussion about possible ways they could use Kushner’s business dealings to influence him.
As ABC News said, “[Kushner was] once considered the untouchable golden boy of the administration with a vast portfolio of responsibilities and unrestricted access to the president, [and] Kushner’s role has been diminished.” It seems Kushner is no different from his father-in-law in terms of corruption and questionable decision making.
For many liberals, the last chance for hope in the Trump administration was the Chief of Staff General John Kelly. When Kelly was appointed Chief of Staff, many thought he would be the “adult in the room,” so to speak. To Kelly’s credit, many of his early actions had immediate impact. He limited access to the Oval Office, fired Anthony Scaramucci after his controversial interview with The New Yorker and seemed to have stopped Trump’s Twitter tirades. As time passed, though, his positives slowly eroded and his true character showed.
Just like Ivanka and Kushner, Kelly has been surrounded in controversy during his time in the White House. According to Louis Nelson at Politico, Kelly “brought with him a sterling reputation from his career in military service that has been tarnished somewhat by his tenure.”
Last month, the public learned former Staff Secretary Rob Porter had a history of domestic abuse, but still had security clearance and remained staffed by the White House. While the exact timeline of the Porter scandal has never been finalized, Kelly himself admits “that he had stumbled in response to initial reports of the allegations,” according to Katie Rogers with The New York Times.
Kelly has shown time and time again he is no different from anyone else in the Trump administration. While he may be more qualified than Ivanka and Kushner, his high number of controversies and his mishandling of the Porter scandal shows even he cannot save this White House.
At this point in the Trump Administration, you know if you approve of Trump as president or not, and you know if you trust Trump and his staff or not. If you do, then more power to you; but if you do not, then the state of the nation is not going to get any better any time soon.
While it may be human nature to find hope in the hopeless, if you are only sleeping because you have faith in Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner or General John Kelly, then maybe you should wake up. It is time everyone understands Trump does not hire “the best people.”
Anyone who still works in the White House, and this number seems to shrink every week, is complicit toward Trump. If you do not have faith in Trump as president, then you should not have faith in his staff either.