It looks like we have the first leaks of the Trump administration, to reporters at the New York Times and New York Magazine, no less.
First Maggie Haberman of the Times reported early on Sunday that “a few people close to Trump administration suggest” that the new president might have set a “trap” for his new press secretary when he sent Sean Spicer out to read a statement yesterday on the size of the inauguration crowd:
Putting everything else aside, I've had a few people close to Trump administration suggest this may have been a trap for the press sec.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 22, 2017
He was not Trump's first choice for press secretary, and was pushed by Priebus.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 22, 2017
And he may have walked himself into it.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 22, 2017
there were a few, but as @KellyannePolls told me on NYT podcast, she declined that job
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 22, 2017
And then more recently Sunday night, New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reported a similar sentiment from a “longtime Trump adviser”:
Trump sent Spicer out to give statement yesterday, a longtime Trump adviser says, but afterwards Trump said "he was terrible."
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) January 22, 2017
Also Trump sources reminding me that Trump didn't want Spicer in the job. He wanted Kellyanne as press secretary. Spicer was a Priebus pick.
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) January 22, 2017
As they say, bigly if true.
***