If you’re wondering why Trump doesn’t seem to whine about weird conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated fake news stories as much anymore, the New York Times report about chief of staff John Kelly might have a clue to explain it [emphasis added].
Mr. Kelly cannot stop Mr. Trump from binge-watching Fox News, which aides describe as the president’s primary source of information gathering. But Mr. Trump does not have a web browser on his phone, and does not use a laptop, so he was dependent on aides like Stephen K. Bannon, his former chief strategist, to hand-deliver printouts of articles from conservative media outlets.
Now Mr. Kelly has thinned out his package of printouts so much that Mr. Trump plaintively asked a friend recently where The Daily Caller and Breitbart were.
Mr. Kelly has told his staff, time and time again, that his goal is to rationalize the chaos that has engulfed the management of the West Wing. Managing Mr. Trump is beyond his — or anyone else’s — powers, he has said repeatedly.
Now maybe the report is untrue – they depend on three anonymous sources. But there IS a conspiracy theory among the alt-right that Trump is under “house arrest” and isn’t allowed to do what he wants.
No wonder the admin appears to be more effective lately…