Mulvaney’s missteps drawing scrutiny
Trump allies critical of recent comments
WASHINGTON — For Mick Mulvaney, the hits just keep on coming.
First, President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff stirred up a tempest by acknowledging that the administration had held up aid to Ukraine in part to prod that country to investigate Democrats and the 2016 elections. Then Mulvaney went on television Sunday to defend his boss in effusive terms — and ended up making a new problematic comment.
Explaining why Trump had tried to steer an international summit to one of the president’s own properties before giving up on the idea, Mulvaney said Trump “still considers himself to be in the hospitality business.” That did nothing to allay concerns that the president has used his office to enrich his business interests.
The bookended performances over the span of a few days were panned by the president’s allies and cast doubt on Mulvaney’s job security at the White House.
Mulvaney denied on “Fox News Sunday” that there was any consideration of his resignation, “Absolutely, positively not.”
At a press conference Thursday, Mulvaney asserted that military aid to Ukraine was delayed partly because Trump wanted officials there to look into a security company hired by the Democratic National Committee that discovered that Russian agents had broken into the committee’s network in 2016.
Trump’s personal lawyers quickly dissociated themselves from the comments.
Mulvaney’s description of the administration’s handling of the Ukraine aid amounted to a quid pro quo, though he later claimed his comments had been misconstrued.
The president himself was also displeased that Mulvaney only made the headlines worse, according to officials and Republicans close to the White House not authorized to speak publicly.
Still, a swift dismissal doesn’t appear on the horizon, according to staffers and outside advisers, who noted the difficulties Trump has faced attracting and retaining high quality White House staff even before the impeachment episode.