The Atlantic

The Downsides of John Kelly's Ascension

It's not a signal that the president is preparing to moderate his White House—it's a signal he's going to the mattresses.
Source: Steven Senne / AP

Donald Trump is not much of a man. He feels sorry for himself, he whines, he gropes women; he bullies the weak. He brags and he lies. As a young man, this self-proclaimed athlete collected five draft deferments rather than wear his country’s uniform. He doesn’t even work out. The motto emblazoned on Trump’s bogus coat of arms should probably be “faithless,” which makes it odd that he has picked as his chief of staff a general steeled in a service whose motto is “ever faithful.” (The Trump coat of arms was reportedly lifted from another family, with the motto “integrity” replaced—inevitably—by “Trump.”)

John Kelly, retired Marine four-star and new White House chief of staff, has been

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
The Atlantic3 min readDiscrimination & Race Relations
The Legacy of Charles V. Hamilton and Black Power
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present and surface delightful treasures. Sign up here. This week, The New York Times published news of the death of Charles V. Hamilton, the
The Atlantic6 min read
The Happy Way to Drop Your Grievances
Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression for a chronic complainer: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “whiner-grumbler.” It was no

Related Books & Audiobooks