Abstract
Modern presidencies are characterized by the coherent White House staff that seamlessly move from the campaign into the White House to implement the new president’s agenda. Campaign staff built the policy agenda during the months-long if not years-long campaign, revised it to meet political demands at every juncture, and entered their White House offices with a clear view of how to achieve the campaign’s goals. In contrast, few members of the Trump White House staff moved from the campaign into the White House which soon became plagued by multiple power centers and limited agreement on the president’s broad agenda. In general, the Trump staff were unknown to each other and held quite different world visions, varying from extreme nationalists to globalists. This research examines the multiple power centers, the power voids, and the tools of power exercised in the White House. By the end of the first 7 months, the decision process had moved from groupthink to multiple advocacy to the coalition presidency.
Appendix 1: Trump White House Senior Staff
Assistants to the President (29), August 15, 2017.
| Trump Campaign | Stephen Bannon1 | Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor |
| Kellyanne Conway | Senior Counselor | |
| Stephen Miller | Senior Advisor for Policy | |
| Donald McGahn | White House Counsel | |
| Trump Organization | Hope Hicks | Director of Strategic Communications |
| Daniel Scavino | Director of Social Media | |
| Jason Greenblatt | Special Representative for International Negotiations | |
| Omarosa Manigault | Director of Communications, Office of Public Liaison | |
| Trump Family | Ivanka Trump | First Daughter |
| Jared Kushner | Senior Advisor, Pres. Trump’s son-in-law | |
| Recommended by Family | Chris Liddell | Strategic Initiatives |
| Gary Cohn | National Economic Council | |
| Dina Powell | National Security Council | |
| Reed Cordish | Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives | |
| Lindsay Reynolds | Office of the First Lady and Former Chief of Staff to First Lady Bush | |
| Vice President Pence | Marc Short | Legislative Affairs |
| Nick Ayers | Chief of Staff to Vice President | |
| Reince Priebus2 | Chief of Staff | |
| Sean Spicer3,4 | Former Press Secretary | |
| Congressional Staff | Rick Dearborn | Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Cabinet, and Intergovernmental Affairs |
| John DeStefano | Presidential Personnel | |
| Robert Porter | Staff Secretary | |
| Other | Gen. H.R. McMaster | National Security Council |
| Gen. Joseph Kellogg Jr. | National Security Council | |
| Kathleen McFarland | National Security Council | |
| George W. Bush White House | ||
| George W. Bush White House Staff | Joe Hagin | Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations |
| Andrew Bremberg | Domestic Policy Council | |
| George Sifakis5 | Director of the Office of Public Liaison | |
| Thomas Bossert | National Security Council | |
1Stephen Bannon was fired August 19, 2017.
2Reince Priebus was fired July 28, 2017.
3Anthony Scaramucci was appointed to the vacant position of Communications Director on July 21, 2017 and fired July 31, 2017.
4Sean Spicer was replaced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders on July 22, 2017.
5George Sifakis announced his resignation on August 18, 2017.
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