WASHINGTON Less than two hours before The New York Times reported Tuesday that White House economic adviser Gary Cohn was resigning , President Donald Trump boasted that everybody wants to work in the White House.
Downplaying reports of chaos and disarray in his administration, Trump told reporters that his staff had tremendous energy and tremendous spirit.
Many, many people want every single job, he said at a joint press conference with Swedens prime minister. You know, I read where, Oh, gee, maybe people dont want to work for Trump. And believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House. They all want a piece of that Oval Office. They want a piece of the West Wing. And not only in terms of it looks great on their rsum, its just a great place to work.
So many people want to come in, Trump added. I have a choice of anybody. I could take any position in the White House, and Ill have a choice of the 10 top people having to do with that position.
After the White House confirmed Cohns resignation Tuesday evening, the president bragged without providing evidence that there were many people wanting the job.
Cohns departure, which had been rumored for months, capped off several days of White House aides announcing resignations and added to the already dizzying list of departures and firings during Trumps presidency.
Just last week, two communications officials said they planned to leave: Josh Raffel , a spokesman for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump , and longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks , the presidents third permanent communications director in less than 14 months in office. (In addition, Sean Spicer simultaneously served as acting communications director and press secretary for several months last year.)
This turnover rate among top staffers is higher than it has been for any of the last five presidents, according to analysis of Trumps first year from Brookings Institution fellow Kathryn Dunn Tenpas . It was at 34 percent as of Jan. 19 more than triple that of Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama . That rate has since gone up to 43 percent, the think tank announced Wednesday.
Tenpas attributed this to Trump prioritizing loyalty over qualifications, as well as a White House that has functioned in a chaotic manner.
There are positions that have been left unfilled for months, leaving some staffers to perform multiple roles at once.
And the vacancies in top positions go beyond the White House at the State Department , for example, there arent people in roles that have important ramifications for international relations.
On Tuesday, North Korea expressed a willingness to sit down for talks with the U.S. , according to South Korean officials. But the U.S. has not had a permanent ambassador to South Korea for more than a year, and the State Departments top diplomat on North Korea policy announced his retirement last week .
Trumps vacancy rate for ambassadors is 22 percent, according to USA Today . It was 11 percent at the same point in Obamas presidency.
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Dozens of vacancies at the State Department have led to tensions between Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson , who has accused the White House of stalling the hiring process.
Tillersons own job security has perpetually seemed precarious, yet he has somehow outlasted many other Trump officials for now.
This article has been updated with the latest figures on turnover rates from the Brookings Institution.
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