MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell wants to know who’s going to be running the country while Donald Trump avoids doing the heavy lifting of being president.
The president-elect, who will turn 80 during his second year in office, has shown no interest in governing, except when it comes to oil and gas permits, O’Donnell said Thursday night. Once Trump is done instructing his chief of staff to approve every drilling request in the country, who’s going to be calling the shots?
The Last Word anchor has some theories. His top contenders: Robert Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, and Susie Wiles.
ADVERTISEMENT
On the campaign trail, Trump recalled telling Kennedy he can “go wild” on food, medicine, and everything that’s not energy related.
“Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold. Other than that, go have a good time, Bobby,” O’Donnell quoted Trump as saying.
“So that’s it,” O’Donnell continued. “According to Donald Trump, President Bobby Kennedy is in charge of tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. President Bobby Kennedy is in charge of mass deportations. President Bobby Kennedy is in charge of all health care issues.”
On the other hand, Trump has also told Musk he will appoint the billionaire owner of X as the head of a new “government efficiency commission” tasked with making recommendations for drastic reforms.
“If Elon Musk is going to do an evaluation of the entire federal government and the entire federal budget, and decide which parts of the federal government should have funding cuts or funding increases, that is called being president of the United States,” O’Donnell said.
Or, he asked, will Trump’s newly appointed chief of staff, Wiles, be the president? With decades of experience in Republican politics, Wiles knows more about how to be president than Kennedy, Musk, or even Trump, O’Donnell said.
She’s also going to have the biggest office in the West Wing besides the Oval Office—and she’s no doubt going to spend a lot more time there than Trump will.
“When someone needs an answer to a presidential question, will they go to an empty Oval Office—where the guy who is supposed to be there is out golfing—or will they take that short walk down to the end of the hall… to the White House chief of staff?” O’Donnell said.
“That is where the real president might be sitting in the Trump White House,” he added.
During his first term, Trump went through four chiefs of staff in four years. But Wiles just might have what it takes to stick around longer, O’Donnell said. During Trump’s election night speech, when he called Wiles to take the mic, she shook hands with the president-elect but turned the podium over to campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita.
“If the real president is going to be Susie Wiles, she knows the one thing she has to do publicly is never get caught being president,” O’Donnell added.
Notably not on O‘Donnell’s list? Vice President-elect JD Vance.
The Daily Beast Podcast episodes are released every Thursday. Like and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. And click here for email updates as each new episode drops.
