It’s rare in Donald Trump’s Washington for anyone to outshine the President. And usually when you do, it spells bad news for your job security.
Enter Scott Pruitt.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency was, as of this writing, clinging to his job amid a week of horrific headlines not seen since the last Trump Cabinet official – David Shulkin at Veterans Affairs – was fired.
Pruitt’s inability to stay out of the headlines led to a series of tepid quotes from Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders about his future job prospects. Trump met with the controversy-ridden agency head on Friday, a senior White House official confirmed to CNN.
As of this writing, Pruitt still has a job. But walk through the major headlines of the week (below) and you’ll see why White House observers wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t survive the weekend.
The Point: Bad headlines are usually a recipe for disaster for anyone not named Trump in the Trump administration. Pruitt has somehow escaped the ax, for now.
Monday:
- Shulkin says he was fired via Trump tweet
- White House confirms Trump, Putin discussed summit
- Trump lawyer moves to appeal decision that allowed Zervos case to continue
- White House looking into Scott Pruitt’s housing situation
- Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government
- WSJ: Special counsel looking into Roger Stone’s ties to WikiLeaks
Tuesday:
- Trump: ‘We’re going to be guarding our border with the military’ until wall complete
- Dutch lawyer is first person to be sentenced in Mueller probe, gets 30 days in prison
- Trump welcomes Baltic leaders as Russian tension boils
- Cabinet members meeting on immigration at White House on Tuesday
- Trump threatens Honduras’ foreign aid over migrant caravan
- Stormy Daniels requests ‘suspicious’ bank information related to hush payment
Wednesday:
- Trump says he’s willing to keep troops in Syria for short-term
- Trump pushes back against market fears of trade war
- Trump lawyers told President is not a target at this point
- Stone, on day he sent Assange dinner email, also said ‘devastating’ WikiLeaks were forthcoming
- Trump orders National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border
- White House says Trump not OK with Pruitt’s apartment deal
- EPA ethics official says he didn’t have all the facts on Pruitt’s lease
- Trump administration expected to sanction several Russian oligarchs
- Lawyer who cut deals for Daniels and McDougal says the whole truth has not been told
- Exclusive: Mueller’s team questioning Russian oligarchs
Thursday:
- Top Pruitt aide resigning
- Trump attorney asks for stay in defamation case with ‘Apprentice’ contestant
- Trump floated replacing Sessions with Pruitt this week despite scandals
- Trump targets Democratic senator in free-wheeling West Virginia event
- Trump says he didn’t know about Stormy Daniels payment
- Trump says he may send ‘2,000 to 4,000’ National Guard troops to the border
- EPA officials sidelined or demoted after raising concerns about Pruitt
Friday:
