Trump names Rep. Mark Meadows his new chief of staff

09:38, March 07, 2020

• 

  Trump names Rep. Mark Meadows his new chief of staff

  In this Jan. 29, 2020, file photo, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., speaks with reporters during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: AP)In the midst of one of the most daunting crises of his administration, President Donald Trump announced he had made a major staff overhaul, replacing his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney with Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.While much of the country was focused on the spreading coronavirus, Trump announced the surprise reshuffle by Friday night tweet, saying Mulvaney would become the US special envoy for Northern Ireland.“I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one,” he wrote, thanking Mulvaney — who never shook his “acting” title — “for having served the Administration so well.”The long-rumored move comes as Trump has been pulling together a team of loyalists and allies ahead of what is expected to be a bitter reelection fight. But the timing — as his administration was already facing criticism over its handling of the outbreak — threatened to exacerbate concerns about the government’s ability to protect the nation from a virus thathas now infectedmore than 100,000 people worldwide. Meadows will be Trump’s fourth chief of staff in as many years.Mulvaney had been leading the administration’s interagency response to the virus until Trump designated Vice President Mike Pence to lead the whole-of-government effort more than a week ago.It was just one of a long series of downgrades for Mulvaney, whose relationship with Trump began to sour not long after he was named to the position in December 2018. Indeed, Trump had been eyeing the change for many months, according to people familiar with his thinking, but wanted to wait until after the impeachment saga was over to make his move.Meadows, the onetime leader of the House Freedom Caucus, is a longtime Trump confidant and sounding board, whos...

• 

  Incoming Trump chief of staff to self-quarantine

  Incoming White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has self-quarantined after he may have come into contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus, his spokesman said Monday.File photo: CGTNMeadows is not exhibiting symptoms and a precautionary test came back negative, the spokesman said on Twitter."Mark Meadows was advised this weekend that now 12 days prior at CPAC, he may have come into contact with the COVID-19 positive test individual," the tweet said, referring to a conservative conference in late February."Hell be self-quarantined till the 14 day period passes Wednesday."US President Donald Trump announced Friday he had chosen staunch ally Meadows to be his new chief of staff -- the fourth person to hold the position since he took office.Meadows, currently a Republican congressman from North Carolina, will replace the ultra-conservative Mick Mulvaney, who had been serving as acting chief of staff since Trump fired John Kelly in December 2018.Five other US elected officials have announced they are self-quarantining. Four of them were exposed to the virus, like Meadows, during the CPAC conference near Washington.Among them, at least two Republican lawmakers recently met with Trump.

• 

  Trump’s challenge: keeping his act fresh in reelection year

  In this March 2, 2020, photo, President Donald Trump makes a joke as he speaks during a campaign rally at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC. (Photo: AP)The Donald Trump show has a consistent script. Same villains. Same nicknames. Same grievances. Same hero: himself.At raucous rallies held mostly in states that are friendly to him, the president tells audiences that he could be presidential, even Lincolnesque, if he wanted to. But that, he says, would be boring.“It’s easy to be presidential but only have about three people in front of me,” Trump said at a recent rally, before breaking into a monotone imitation of a droning politician. “Doing this takes far more talent than doing that. Doing that is very easy. This is not easy.”As he seeks reelection with little variance from the themes that brought him to power four years ago, a central challenge will be to keep those audiences satisfied and to make sure, like a great entertainer, that the act isn’t getting stale.The president retains robust approval ratings among Republicans but even that fealty will be tested as he asks voters for another four years essentially offering them not new promises but more of the same.Trump’s campaign remains highly confident it will not only retain those who backed the president in 2016, but will also expand the electorate by turning out people who did not vote for years ago, in addition to peeling off some African American and Latino males.At a rally last week in South Carolina, nearly 29% of those who registered for tickets didn’t vote in the 2016 election, according to Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.But there are other metrics that don’t look quite as hopeful.Trump’s Twitter following has grown to more than 73 million, up from 25 million at the start of his presidency. But the public’s engagement with the president on his favorite social media platform has diminished since his inauguration more than three years ago.Trump’s tweets drew an average of 5.37 likes per 1,000 follow...