Thread: Trump's 'Kitchen Cabinet' of Advisors Revealed

Sunday, June 12, 2016 12:52 PM
By: Sandy Fitzgerald

Donald Trump, while insisting he is running his own campaign, has a growing circle of people who are proving to be influential to the direction the presumptive GOP nominee takes moving forward.

According to The Hill, the people most influencing Trump include campaign chairman Paul Manafort; GOP operative Roger Stone; Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama; daughter Ivanka Trump and husband, Jared Kushner; and conservative economists Larry Kudlow and Stephen Moore.

Manafort, a veteran GOP strategist and global affairs operative, joined Trump's campaign in late March as a convention manager when it appeared that the party was headed toward a contested convention in Cleveland.

He has since become campaign chairman, putting tension between him and long-time campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Stone, who Trump once called a "stone-cold loser," acted as an adviser to the Trump campaign in 2015, later leaving to launch a pro-Trump super PAC, which Lewandowski called a "big league scam."

Trump and Stone, though, are now "tight," said a Trump ally, even though the candidate will not acknowledge the relationship. "He’s the hatchet guy and Lewandowski’s worst nightmare.”

Sessions, one of Trump's first backers, is his point man on Capitol Hill, and often acts as a Trump surrogate, heading up the candidate's national security working group. He is often mentioned as a potential running mate as well.

Meanwhile reports The Hill, Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio said he does not think the New York mogul "takes very many people seriously," but that he'd listen to his "children to a point...especially Ivanka."

He has entrusted his daughter and his sons to take key roles in his business empire, but Ivanka has shown skills of her own and she has become a key surrogate in his campaign.

Meanwhile, her husband, a real estate investor who owns The New York Observer newspaper, has an interest in foreign policy and has worked with Trump to develop comments on Israel and the Middle East, reports The Hill.

Kudlow, of CNBC and Moore, of the Heritage Foundation, have become campaign economic advisers, providing advice on taxes, spending, trade, and energy policy.

There are several others in Trump's growing list of trusted advisers, including retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with a source telling Newsmax in May that the two are "like brothers" since the former presidential candidate endorsed Trump. The pair are constantly on the phone, and the low-key Carson has been a calming influence on Trump, the source said.

In addition, Trump is long-time friends with former New York City Rudy Giuliani, one of the few establishment political figures he really trusts and goes to for advice.

Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, keeps a low profile but is one of the most trusted people around his father. He is said to be quite passionate about politics and protective of Trump.

Michael Cohen, Trump's long-time counsel and political is also a trusted adviser. During this election season he is focusing on Trump's business interests, but still has his boss' ear.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, while downplayed like Carson, also maintains a special relationship with Trump, and the presumptive nominee is also reportedly close to Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue, who plans a fundraiser for Trump next week.

The Hill reports that Don Benton, the Washington state chair of Trump's campaign, and Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, also have close ties with Trump.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/don.../12/id/733471/

8 years of The Donald...then 8 years of Ivanka Trump...1st Female President!!!

YES BEEZER!! That works for me!!

Really, I think all the media types who think somehow "advisors" of some sort are going to change Trump are just silly stupid people. Trump is Trump. He'll be 70 on Tuesday. He's not changing. He's who he is and that's who we want. He has as keen an instinct on all these issues as anyone he could hire. He already knows more about the issues and topics than most of these pundits and strategists combined. That's why he comes up right all the time, time after time after time.

Sure, he'll listen to data, he'll listen to ideas, but really most of the best ideas are his own and he should stick with them for the most part. It was so great watching him back on the trail in the live streams of his Richmond, Tampa and Pittsburgh rallies, reporting from his little list of items he wants to cover that he carries in his jacket pocket.

I don't like the reference to kitchen cabinet.

Yeah, I don't even know what the term means in this reference. I've heard "they've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him", but the kitchen cabinet reference sounds like a really stupid person wrote the article.

Originally Posted by Beezer

8 years of The Donald...then 8 years of Ivanka Trump...1st Female President!!!

I have absolutely no problem with a woman as President, however, I have to draw the line at a 16 year 'dynasty'. Marriage or birth should never be considered in gauging the qualifications for President of the United States. I say this knowing you were probably making the comment in jest.

I have absolutely no problem with a 16 year dynasty of the Trump family. 16 years of common sense, intelligence, loyalty to the American People, great trade deals, jobs coming home, secure borders, zero illegal aliens, beautiful airports, fast trains, safe bridges, inner city redevelopment, no more poverty, balanced budget, everything making sense again.

I would love a 32 year dynasty of that.

Originally Posted by Judy

I have absolutely no problem with a 16 year dynasty of the Trump family. 16 years of common sense, intelligence, loyalty to the American People, great trade deals, jobs coming home, secure borders, zero illegal aliens, beautiful airports, fast trains, safe bridges, inner city redevelopment, no more poverty, balanced budget, everything making sense again.

I would love a 32 year dynasty of that.

Maybe we should see how Trump does during his first four years before we anoint him king Donald and abolish our Republic. Article IV of the U.S. Constitution guarantees us a republican form of government.

If I've learned anything in my 57 years of life it is that, "read my lips", election promises are nothing more than words until they come to fruition. I don't have the data to back up this statement, but I'm betting not one single President of the United States has honored each and every election promise made. To think that such a thing is possible is to ignore the protections built into our current form of government. Planes, trains, and bridges is not why I'm supporting Trump. My primary hopes are that he will reverse our current course on immigration (legal & illegal), enforce our immigration laws, and secure the border. Beautiful airports are not even a blip on my radar and I'm 100% sure poverty will not be eliminated in my lifetime.

Kitchen Cabinet is a term for the unofficial advisors a politician consults.


"The Kitchen Cabinet was a term used by political opponents of President of the United States Andrew Jackson to describe his ginger group, the collection of unofficial advisers he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet (the "parlorcabinet") following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton affair ..."

Kitchen Cabinet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_CabinetWikipedia