More turmoil for Trump
WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has endured more internal disruption, with Paul Manafort, who as campaign chairman had sought to build bridges with the Republican establishment by encouraging a more temperate and consistent message from the GOP nominee, abruptly resigning yesterday after a staff shakeup that had reduced his role.
The decision came during a critical week in the campaign, with Trump under pressure from Republican leaders and wealthy contributors to rebalance his candidacy after weeks of missteps that have left him trailing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in national and battleground state opinion polls.
The resignation also followed increased scrutiny of Manafort’s earlier work in Ukraine on behalf of pro-Russian figures, including the country’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych.
Manafort’s departure leaves the campaign more firmly under the guidance of newly installed chief executive Stephen Bannon, formerly of Breitbart News, and veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway, who was elevated to campaign manager earlier in the week.
Whether Manafort’s resignation will lead to more staff exits was not clear yesterday, though Trump advisers said Bannon and Conway were considering hiring additional staff.
The resignation was formally announced just as Trump was preparing to tour the devastation from flooding in Louisiana.
Eventually, Manafort’s background caught up with him. According to two people familiar with Trump’s decision, Trump on Friday was given a copy of an Associated Press story about how Manafort’s firm had not properly disclosed its foreign lobbying, shortly before taking the stage at a rally in North Carolina. Trump ‘‘blew a gasket’’, one person said, and told Bannon and others that Manafort should be dismissed.
Manafort was then told in candid terms about Trump’s view, and prepared to resign.
Associates of Manafort said it was clear that he was taking a calculated risk by joining Trump’s campaign.
‘‘He knows he’s been doing this stuff,’’ a GOP strategist said. ‘‘It was going to become an issue. He wasn’t prepared to tamp it down. When he decided to re-enter highprofile American politics and he ratcheted it up with lots of Sunday shows and TV appearances, he had to know he was putting himself out there as a target.’’
Members of Trump’s family, which has been an important part his inner circle, praised Manafort after the announcement but made it clear that the controversies around him played a role in his decision to leave.
‘‘I think my father didn’t want to be, you know, distracted [with] whatever things’’ Manafort was dealing with, said Trump’s son Eric, speaking to Fox News.
‘‘My father just didn’t want to have the distraction looming over the campaign.’’
Jared Kushner, husband of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, had also become less enthusiastic about Manafort’s management, according to Donald Trump’s aides. Washington Post