President Trump is not a confrontational, pink-slip-happy business executive, but he played one on TV.
In real life, the Queens businessman is a total pussycat when it comes to layoffs, preferring a hatchet man or a long-distance note to rid himself of staff that have fallen out favor; anything so long as he doesn’t have to meet with subordinates face-to-face to tell them, “You’re fired.”
On Tuesday, for example, Rex Tillerson was reportedly shocked when learned upon his re-entry into the United States that he had been fired as secretary of state.
To be fair, there is some dispute over whether the former ExxonMobil CEO was actually broadsided by the decision. The White House maintains that Trump’s chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, notified Tillerson Friday of the impending layoff. However, Steven Goldstein, the under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, contradicted this version of events when he told reporters Tuesday that Tillerson was stunned by the news.
Goldstein was laid off later that day.
It’s possible that the White House’s account is the correct one and that Tillerson was dutifully informed of his upcoming exit. But the State Department’s story has legs precisely because it follows a pattern of similarly passive-aggressive firings in this administration. If it’s true Tillerson was surprised by Tuesday’s news, he wouldn’t be the first member of the Trump White House to learn of his premature exit via news report, a note on social media or a call from Gen. Kelly. Not by a long shot.
James Comey learned from a cable news headline that he had been fired as the director of the FBI. He was in California at the time of his firing, meeting with field agents. Former chief of staff Reince Priebus was also given an unceremonious send-off, learning of his firing as he sat in the back of an SUV idling on a tarmac. Trump also never spoke to Tom Price about the decision to fire him as secretary of health and human services. Instead, Kelly reportedly pressured Price to resign, despite the former previously assuring the latter that he wouldn’t be fired.
Kelly was also the one to fire Steve Bannon and Anthony Scaramucci.
Then there’s the White House’s treatment of former spokesman Sean Spicer. Rather than fire him outright, members of Trump’s inner circle constantly badmouthed him in leaks to the press, the goal being that public scrutiny and criticism would prompt him to quit on his own. A similar “make his life miserable until he quits” strategy is being used against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, with whom Trump is greatly displeased.
When he had a reality TV show, the president played a hard-nosed, no-nonsense business executive. His entire shtick hinged on idea that he had no problem whatsoever telling underperforming subordinates, “You’re fired.”
Reality, however, is bit different from television.
