Behind the scenes, Trump’s erratic and bombastic behavior is causing growing alarm among Republican lawmakers, donors and advisers who have called for a more disciplined impeachment response from the White House. Some major Republican donors have made it clear to party leaders and White House officials that they are unhappy with what they see as uncertainty and mixed messages. “He’d rather send out late-night tweets and TV clips that he wants in the echo chamber than have some kind of war room,” said former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg. In text messages with two other American diplomats, Taylor raised alarms about the White House holding back military aid to Ukraine while Trump pushed for political investigations. White House press aides said Friday that Mulvaney’s standing in the White House was unchanged in the wake of his news conference, which prompted a statement from Mulvaney hours later attempting to retract what he had said about a quid pro quo on Ukraine.

Source: Washington Post October 22, 2019 00:14 UTC