HIGH TURNOVER NOT OUT OF THE ORDINARY UNDER TRUMP

announcing the move on Twitter, defending it on the South Lawn with the noise of helicopter blades almost drowning him out and then leaving behind chaos.

The spectacle did not end with his secretary of state being cashiered just hours after landing from a diplomatic mission to Africa. Even as attention focused on Tillerson, the president’s once-trusted personal assistant, John Mcentee, was forced out and escorted from the White House by security guards so hurriedly that he could not even grab his jacket — but in a typical Trumpian twist then turned around and joined the re-election campaign. Then an aide to Tillerson was fired for discussing the firing of his boss.

The turnover has been so head-snapping — 43 percent of Trump’s most senior aides had left by last week — that it will soon become easier to talk about who is still around than who has left.

Gary Cohn, the economic adviser, announced last week that he would step down, following Hope Hicks, the communications director, and Rob Porter, the staff secretary.

Tillerson had yet to turn in his State Department decoder ring before speculation turned to who else would be gone soon. What about John F. Kelly, the forever-on-the-bubble White House chief of staff? Or Lt. Gen. H.R. Mcmaster, the perpetually on-the-way-out national security adviser?

Maybe it depends on whom the president can convince to replace them.

He said the other day he could find 10 people for any job opening, but many first-tier Republicans are staying away from this White House or are banned from its premises because of past opposition to Trump.

Still, he is not wedded to traditional choices as he scans the horizon for fresh staff members. It helps to be good on television, as Kudlow is, but not to be too good on television, because it might irritate the boss to be shown up.

Among those Trump enjoys on Fox News is John Bolton, the conservative firebrand who served as ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. Tongues wagged when Trump met with Bolton in the White House recently, prompting speculation that he could replace Mcmaster.

But would Trump bring in Bolton, among the nation’s leading hawks on North Korea, at the very moment he plans to sit down with Kim Jong Un, the country’s mercurial dictator, for talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program peacefully?

And then there is Bolton’s famous mustache. Some around Trump say it bothers him. Can the president get over the facial hair?

Trump’s choice of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson offers something of a window into his approach. Pompeo found that the key to favor in the Oval Office was engaging Trump. The president enjoyed his near-daily interactions with Pompeo at his intelligence briefings.

By contrast, he never really connected with Tillerson, who was used to being a CEO rather than a glorified staff member. It probably did not help that Tillerson was overheard after a meeting last summer calling the president a “moron,” a comment he never denied, although he had a spokeswoman deny it for him. Trump has likewise been said not to click personally with Mcmaster.

Trump’s aides said he acted now because he wanted to get a new team in place before the talks with Kim.

But Pompeo, a skeptic of talks with North Korea, will become secretary of state, while Tillerson, an advocate of talks with North Korea, will head for the exits.

In speaking with reporters on the South Lawn before his trip Tuesday to California, the president cited clashing views with Tillerson over the Iran nuclear agreement and other national security issues.

“It was a different mindset. It was a different thinking,” he explained. “We disagreed on things.”

Just a minute or two later, a reporter asked if it was true that Kudlow was his top choice to replace Cohn as director of the National Economic Council. Such a selection would be striking given that Kudlow, a CNBC commentator, has criticized Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

But Trump shrugged that off and praised Kudlow. “We don’t agree on everything, but in this case I think that’s good,” he said. “I want to have a divergent opinion.”

At least for now.

A day later, Kudlow was introduced as Cohn’s replacement.