The communications department at the White House came to a grinding halt this week. It only took Anthony Scaramucci ten days to step down as White House Communications Director after another major change took place within the Trump administration. After a week of insults in the media towards other staff in the administration, Scaramucci managed to predict Reince Priebus’ departure, but the replacement caught him by surprise…..enter General John Kelly now stepping into the role of Chief of Staff. Clearly President Trump sees the role of Chief of Staff as first and foremost a disciplinarian with his newest choice.

Kelly, dealing with the White House media leakage first, advised the President that every staff member, including Jared Kushner and even Ivanka Trump go through him to get into the oval. Although not versed in domestic policy and communication strategies per se, Kellys’ military management style will play a vital role in leading the President’s staff in a more disciplined direction. Because he would’ve had to answer to Kelly, Scaramucci’s original plan of having full access to the President would be diminished, something he fought for when he was able to push out former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and now former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Traditionally, the Chief of Staff is the gatekeeper to the oval, while the communications department disseminates and controls the message of the President. Everything needs to stay in the peripheral vision of the Chief of Staff. But this is not a huge blow to Scaramucci in the slightest, still being involved with SkyBridge and having a full network of business ties, his career is far from over. This new strategy played out by President Trump demonstrates the lack of control in the White House. Will bringing in General John Kelly change any aspect of the Trump administration? Only time will tell. With key roles within the administration changing weekly if not daily, who knows who will be guarding the gate this time next week.