Politico: Trump Transition Has Taken 'Vitriolic' Turn

Inside Trump Tower festers an environment rife with suspicion, vitriol and an ever-growing divide between factions, according to a Politico report.

The epicenter of the turmoil, according to Politico — the political cage match between chief of staff Reince Priebus and top adviser Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway.

Establishment vs. anti-establishment. Priebus' Republican National Committee loyalists vs. Trump's originals.

And at the heart of that tug-of-war is who gets to do what in a Trump administration, Politico reports.

"The transition has taken a decidedly nasty and more vitriolic turn," one aide told Politico, who added each day brought "more division and more pieces of contention to argue over."

It's the latest in a string of similar reports to come out of Trump Tower regarding alleged transition strife:

• First it was the transition being called a "knife fight" among insiders.
• Then there was the Chris Christie ouster as transition head.
• Later came the lament of Trump originals that they didn't have jobs yet.
• Most recently came the blood fight to see who would replace Priebus as RNC chair.

According to Politico, all of this is orchestrated or at least allowed to go on by Trump, who reportedly likes to fuel competition within his own staff, embracing Darwinian principles that the strongest will emerge.

"Trump works on a power proximity matrix, so if he's seeing Reince and his people every day in the White House, that gives him a lot of juice," an adviser told Politico.

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