Despite official bravado from the Trump administration that the immigrant travel ban is going very well and that complaints about it are from either Democrats, Republicans who will always be against the president or from a hostile and unfair media, others high up inside the administration worry that the handling of the ban and its fallout are indicative of bigger problems ahead, Axios reported on Monday.
Even after the administration apparently softened that ban by allowing those with green cards from the seven restricted countries to enter the U.S., a senior administration official insisted to Axios: "The only issue is the media created an issue that never existed, and then asked us to resolve an issue that never existed… The EO [executive order] is not going to be changed."
But the sources who are concerned say that major decisions and their details are made with very limited input from beyond the inner circle, and that concentration of power, especially among chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller, is becoming even more insular as the administration establishes itself.
A main reason for the failure to seek advice from the Cabinet, congressional leaders or others is apparently due to a dislike for leaks and general paranoia, the sources say, but the end result is that a wider circle of policy-makers is not consulted who could have possibly prevented at least some of the problems that come to the fore with any decision taken by the administration.
Trump apparently enjoys this way of making policy, because it emphasizes that he is the one in charge. The sources added that the administration has a ready-made scapegoat of an unfair media or other perceived opponents for any moves that actually do go wrong.
That mindset is apparent is Trump's tweets on Monday defending his policy:
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