Trumpworld blame game triggers White House 'circular firing squad'

The knives are coming out in President Donald Trump’s inner circle with what seems like a never-ending flood of leaks, feuds, and public attacks in what conservative commentator Charlie Sykes has described as the Trumpworld “circular firing squad.”

The former conservative radio host wrote in his Friday Substack column that the atmosphere inside Trump’s White House is something between an “asylum” and “a bag filled with scorpions and snakes,” pointing to turmoil involving senior aides, longtime Trump associates and the president himself.

The latest White House scandal appears to be the reported imminent fall of longtime Trump whisperer, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Politico released a bombshell report Thursday that Trump had private conversations about placing her and discussed potential successors as Republicans brace for November’s midterm elections.

The president rejected the report, calling it “TOTAL FAKE NEWS” and saying Wiles had his “COMPLETE confidence.” Still, the report described rivals plotting her downfall, with one Republican source saying she had “burned a lot of people.”

A Zeteo report also backed Politico with their sources, pointedly saying that “She’s in some deep sh—.”

Sykes also highlighted attacks on newly appointed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia. Leaked messages obtained by the Daily Mail included a senior administration official claiming that “She could barely read.”

MAGA-aligned Fox News host Sean Hannity also gave her an unexpected grilling as the criticism piled on from all sides.

The circular firing squad also hit the State Department, as emails obtained by Politico revealed Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and longtime Trump associate Paolo Zampolli engaged in a bitter, months-long fight over Zampolli’s authority as a special envoy.

In one message, Landau ordered Zampolli to stop working on matters outside his scope of cultural diplomacy. Their correspondence included personal accusations and disagreements over who could direct the administration’s diplomatic activities, according to the reporting.

Zampoli was consequently given his walking papers after the report surfaced.

In another episode of Trumpworld infighting, donor Eric Deters filed a defamation lawsuit against Kimberly Guilfoyle, the now-former ambassador to Greece, saying that she begged for money and is threatening to release a recording he claimed could severely damage the administration.

Trump, meanwhile, entered the fight himself on Thursday, blasting Republican Sen. John Cornyn and GOP strategist Karl Rove over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s disastrous Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico.

“If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, seemingly in preparation for a defeat in the historically red state senate seat of Texas.

Sykes also referenced the damning Fox News poll, which found that 88% of voters were extremely or very concerned about corruption in government.

Sykes paints a picture of where personal loyalties appear increasingly fragile, even among people who have spent years defending.