FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Accusations, physical clashes and attacks between people near Trump...
Donald Trump's lawyer and adviser, Boris Epstein, went to the Tea Room at Mar-a-Lago a few days ago for a meeting regarding the selection of the cabinet, but found the way blocked.
Transition co-chairman Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, told Epshteyn in front of others that this was not a meeting for him. "We're not talking about legal nominees today," Lutnick said, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Epstein refused to budge. Using his forearm, he pushed Lutnick out of the way, according to two people present, an incident Lutnick later recounted to others. "I'm coming in," Epshteyn replied, according to one of them.
A third person described the incident as more like "Epshteyn was just avoiding Lutnick on the way to the meeting," and someone close to the two people said the two "worked closely together to help President Trump create of the greatest administration in American history". Epshteyn and Lutnick both declined to comment.
In any other presidential transition, such a face-off and a physical confrontation between the president-elect's two top advisers would be a spectacular breach of decorum.
But in Trump's free-wheeling orbit, the incident was quickly forgotten, as his team has reverted to the patterns of his first term in office — shouting, meeting exclusions and name-calling. As during Trump's first term, competing factions have begun running roughshod over each other, sometimes raising clouds of dust.
This portrait of Trump's thriving team of rivals is the result of interviews with more than half a dozen aides, advisers, confidants and others involved in the transition process, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to provide an assessment of honest
Elon Musk, who has embraced the nickname "first mate" on his social network X, had a tense discussion at Mar-a-Lago with Epstein in front of others, people familiar with the incident said. Incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles has also had to enlist the help of traffic police, asking people to leave when they are not welcome.
And Vice President-elect JD Vance took to social media to attack Stephen K. Bannon, calling him a "mouth-breathing imbecile" over his refusal to work with Trump.
Many of the power centers of Trump's first term have distanced themselves, led by his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's 2016 campaign manager and senior White House adviser, is also not expected to return to the administration. And Bannon, a former senior White House adviser, now operates remotely.
But new camps have formed. At the same time, none of the people interviewed for this article described the factions as wide and warring as during the 2016 transition and the early days of Trump's first White House. And Trump has picked cabinet members quickly, essentially filling most of the top posts, before Thanksgiving.
"The president likes it when people are kind of at odds with each other because that's where he sees the way to get to the right people," said someone involved in the discussions.
A transition official played down any tension. "President Trump has a dedicated transition team full of patriots who are committed to serving the President and helping him staff his new administration," Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Pete Hegseth, a former co-host on "Fox & Friends" and Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department, is facing a challenging confirmation process after reports that police investigated an allegation in 2017 that he sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel. He denied the accusations and said that the meeting was consensual.
Matt Gaetz, Trump's initial pick for attorney general, was charged with paying for sex and having sex with a 17-year-old girl at a drug party. On Thursday, Gaetz withdrew his name, saying he believed there had been a distraction.
The transition has unfolded as a continuous series of gala events and business meetings, with clear cliques beginning to emerge. In a group informally chaired by Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., Vance sits alongside other MAGA veterans such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson; and former Trump administration official Cliff Sims. Another group, informally led by Wiles, consists largely of her cadre of loyal and disciplined campaign aides, including Trump's 2024 political director, James Blair; MPs Taylor Budoëich and Robert Gabriel; and the communications team.
A person familiar with the dynamic, however, described those silos as "two groups of friends" who are completely aligned politically in support of Trump and his agenda.
A third group is made up of people associated with the American First Policy Institute, including AFPI President Brooke Rollins, transition co-chair Linda McMahon — who Trump announced Tuesday as his choice for education secretary — and Keith Kellogg, who served as national security adviser to Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence. The group served as a kind of government-in-waiting during the campaign and held an event at Trump's clubhouse last week. But many observers have been surprised by their lack of impact in these first few weeks.
There are also a number of independent actors whose power extends directly from their personal relationship with Trump. Epstein — a longtime adviser who took a coordinating role in Trump's criminal defense efforts in recent years — frustrated a number of Trump's fellow advisers when, on a flight to Washington last week, he encouraged Trump to chose Gaetz for attorney general. He wasn't the only person on the plane to support Gaetz for attorney general, and Epstein has played a crucial role in a number of elections.
The budding relationship between Epstein and Musk — the SpaceX billionaire and Tesla boss whom Trump tapped to head a "Department of Government Efficiency" — has also been strained.
Tensions came to a head last week on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, in what one witness described as "a huge explosion" and a "big fight". Both raised their voices, as Musk accused Epstein of leaking information to the media, with Epstein responding: "I don't know what you're talking about. I have done nothing wrong." So the conflict has just begun. /Adapted "Pamphlet" from "Washington Post"
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