White House officials interfere with Donald Trump’s legacy at their peril

I’m never surprised – that was the phrase Mike Pompeo used when asked about John Bolton’s ousting by Donald Trump at a briefing that Bolton, until a couple of hours before, had himself been due to attend.

And we shouldn’t be. The fact that the White House has essentially had a revolving door attached during the latest administration is long documented and Trump-Bolton was always a marriage of convenience (and the president would decide when he had become inconvenienced). Bolton was pro-war, for a president that has built a platform on pulling the US out of conflict and also has little interest in the details of foreign policy.

Trying to spot the connection between Trump’s choices for national security adviser is difficult. Michael Flynn was essentially a loyalist from the 2016 campaign who had little time to get his feet under the table, HR McMaster was the choice to appease the Republican establishment and a very different character, while Trump just seemed to like Bolton’s antagonistic streak. It smacks of a president tackling policy on the hoof.

The number of officials being forced out/resigning from the White House has slowed somewhat in recent months. It may be that Trump is trying to project an air of stability as he heads into an election year, or he may be running out of officials.

The national security apparatus has been left with a number of jobs to fill, as have a number of departments across the administration. Firings are definitely still part of the Trump arsenal with commerce secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly having threatened to sack National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials after a local Alabama office contradicted the president on the path of Hurricane Dorian.

Some of Trump’s inner circle, like secretary of state Pompeo, have learnt that pragmatism is the best way forwards, shifting how they act depending on what Trump wants. Indeed, it was Pompeo who was sent out to the major political TV shows on Sunday to lay out the administration position in cancelling a meeting with the Taliban at Camp David that had been a major point of friction between Bolton and the president.

Trump values those that can be bent to his whim and that instinct will only be strengthened as we head into 2020. The aborted Taliban talks are a sign that the president is trying to reach for a legacy that can define him as one of the greatest White House occupants in history. It is likely no coincidence that Trump has been pushing for such a situation as the US economy – the main pillar of his tenure and campaign – is now not looking quite so rosy.

From dealing with North Korea and Iran, to trying to solve the trade dispute with China, to peace in the Middle East and Afghanistan Trump has sought something he can be lauded for that previous administrations could not do. With the 2020 election close to 12 months away, the reaching out for such a deal appears more desperate. Months or years of work behind the scenes can mean little when Trump wants to make sure he can do the final deal-making himself, preferably in public.

Bolton was one of those, for better or for worse, that tried to stop him doing so with the Taliban. But as Trump looks to be put back into the White House he has his own ideas about the television-style razzmatazz that will get him there. Only compliant officials will be able to tread that path with him.