The concern for reputation was just one of several emotions that spread among White House advisers after the turmoil. Throughout the government, officials pondered whether to step down after seeing the president encourage protesters to march to the Capitol.
Some Trump advisers scoffed at those who chose to leave, arguing that working for Trump is about knowing and enduring scandals.
“I personally think Charlottesville was worse than what happened yesterday and if you didn’t resign after that, it’s kind of cowardly to do so 14 days before the transfer of power,” said a senior Trump administration official. “It shows a lot of selfishness. ‘Let’s talk about me. I’m resigning because I don’t like what happened. ‘”
Others in the administration had labor benefits in mind. Some wondered if it was worth spending more time on paid vacation than they could earn. Some were reluctant to leave before the formal termination date, as this could leave them ineligible to receive unemployment insurance when they start looking for a job.
And what future job opportunities there would be, others wondered.
“This,” said a government official about Wednesday’s events, “will hurt us in trying to get jobs.”
The lower-level official of the Trump administration was not impressed by his colleagues who were fleeing the scene, saying that they were engaged in “grabbing pearls, trying to save the face for future jobs”. A more enterprising man – like, say, he – could turn the siege of the Capitol into an advantage when it came time for future job interviews.
“If anything, I hope to launch [Wednesday] one day, like ‘see if you want to talk about an employee who can continue to produce and have a good attitude in the most difficult, highest and most pressure situations, [that’s me], ‘”Said the official. He stressed that he does not tolerate violence.
Asked whether he plans to resign because of the riots, the official said he has already sent his resignation letter, but it will be valid on January 20, when all political nominees will have to leave anyway.
“Many of us want to [also] accumulate as much vacation as possible so that we can receive what we plan to receive, because many of us will be unemployed for some period of time, because it has been an extremely difficult period to get hired, “said the official.
With only a few weeks left from the Trump administration, and with others working from home because of the pandemic, the current staffing situation in the White House could be described as “in flux”. Two former White House officials said the West Wing was “barebones” and “extremely empty”.
“Yesterday was completely counterproductive and it was damaging to the movement,” said one of the former White House officials.
A third party A former White House official said the Trump statement released Thursday morning about Deputy Chief Communications Officer Dan Scavino’s Twitter account, in which he said he would accept a peaceful transfer of power, was in part an effort to prevent mass resignations.
It was not successful. At least six more Trump officials announced their resignation on Thursday: Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos; the special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney; Tyler Goodspeed, acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; Mark Vandroff, senior officer of the National Security Council and appointed John Costello by the Department of Commerce.
On Thursday night, Trump released a video, this time admitting his loss and calling for calm and reconciliation.
Some of those who left the government criticized Trump for inciting his supporters while covering up the role they may have played in empowering the president.
“Clearly [Trump] it’s not the same as eight months ago, ”former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told CNBC after resigning the post of special envoy.
But the exits had a side effect: leaving the president surrounded by an ever smaller group of true loyalists. This group includes advisors like Scavino and personnel director John McEntee, who have tightly tied their candles to Trump. It also includes those who have tolerated Trump in the past two months with conspiracy theories about electoral fraud and who never seem interested in giving the president bad news. “[Mark] Meadows was so scared that he just said everything he wanted to hear, ”said a former White House official.
Before releasing his video on Thursday, Trump was totally out of the limelight, avoiding the press even while holding an event in which he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two golfers. Because of the new restrictions on Twitter and Facebook, he was unable to tweet. He still can’t post to Facebook.
The administration’s work, however, continued, albeit in unusual directions. A government official said he spent part of Thursday trying to help colleagues get approval for title changes – such as moving from an actor to permanent positions – “just because it obviously looks better on a resume.”
Others in the Trump world spent the day eager to take the White House experience out of Trump entirely.
“You go to the White House to work there because you want to serve your country literally in the most amazing building and in the most powerful place in the world with the best of intentions and then shit like that happens and you feel ashamed of it, of course,” said one of former White House officials.
Gabby Orr contributed to this article.