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Rep. Mark Meadows, chair of the House Freedom Caucus
- Trump's new chief of staff Mark Meadows has already unnerved aides by crying in two meetings about staffing, despite Trump's noted aversion to prominent displays of emotion, The New York Times reports.
- Meadows, who is known for his strong, animated personality, has struggled with transitioning from being an ally and informal adviser to Trump's chief of staff, The Times said.
- Like his three predecessors, Meadows is already clashing with Trump's unique management style and struggling to assert his authority over the West Wing.
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For years, North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows has been one of President Donald Trump's most trusted allies and confidants in Congress.
But now that he's brought on as Trump's chief of staff, The New York Times reports, he's finding it harder to be in the White House instead of the outside looking in.
Meadows is Trump's fourth chief of staff, following former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, General John Kelly, and most recently, former OMB director Mick Mulvaney. While Both Mulvaney and Meadows were key members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, Meadows was known for forging close friendships with his Democratic colleagues across the aisle.
And like his three predecessors, Meadows is already clashing with Trump's unique management style and struggling to assert his authority over the West Wing, The Times reported.
In a statement to The Times, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said that Meadows "has already proven to be a tremendous asset" to the White House's efforts to combat the coronavirus crisis.
But Meadows, who is known for his expressive personality, has already unnerved aides by crying in two meetings about staffing, once in front of a junior staffer and then in front of senior adviser Jared Kushner, The Times said, despite Trump's noted aversion to prominent displays of emotion.
"Mark Meadows has a live intellect and emotional life," Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told The Times. "Again, I consider many of his ideological commitments just indigestible, but we try to find the humanity in our colleagues and he is someone with a mind and a heart, that's just undeniable."
Meadows has ruffled some feathers with his staffing decisions in his nearly three weeks on the job.
Meadows' first big move was replacing former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham with the bombastic Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany as part of a larger shake-up of the White House communications staff.