Trump’s problem is the captain himself

President Donald Trump still doesn’t get it. He seems to think that by ousting his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and chief spokesman Sean Spicer, all of his White House management and image problems will magically be solved. Trump publicly berates his attorney-general, Jeff Sessions, in the mistaken belief that such humiliation will yield better results in the deepening probe of Russian election meddling.

What Trump seems incapable of understanding is that these are all symptoms of the same problem: him. The White House is in utter disarray not because of leaks or because two or three senior officials are underperforming, but because their leader still hasn’t figured out how to lead.

No amount of firings and public humiliations can put the White House in order as long as the president refuses to observe greater self-discipline and address his own deep personal flaws. Since that’s clearly not going to happen anytime soon, the chaos seems destined to continue, even after Monday’s ouster of new communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

The new White House chief of staff, former homeland security secretary and retired marine Gen John Kelly, will fare no better in the job than Priebus if Trump refuses to change his ways. Trump tweets embarrassing and irresponsible pronouncements daily. He mistakenly believes senior staffers do their best work when pitted against one another. The result is that each works to promote himself and undermine competitors rather than work as a team.

Kelly now inherits this unqualified mess. It’s up to him to put a stop to the madness. Trump seems to think that the discipline and leadership qualities of a marine general are what’s required to right the White House’s sinking ship. Rearranging the deck chairs might tidy things up, but it won’t help if the captain keeps to his same, disastrous course. St Louis, August 1.