After a relatively disciplined start to Donald Trump's second term, the White House is grappling with signs of turmoil that have revived memories of his first chaotic presidency.
From the extraordinary departure of his new press secretary after five days to questions about the future of his chief of staff, there have been a series of upheavals in recent weeks.
The ructions come at the worst possible time for Trump, with many Republicans fearing that the president's dismal polling will drag on their chances in next month's midterm elections.
The White House strongly denies there is infighting in what US media called the "Wild Wild West Wing" — with the fiercest pushback reserved for reports that Trump was looking to replace Susie Wiles, his ultra-loyal chief of staff.
"No one is distracted by FAKE NEWS. This team is strong, united, and focused on President Donald J. Trump, delivering his America First agenda, and winning the midterms," White House Spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to AFP.
"The anonymous 'sources' peddling this nonsense are self-serving opportunists focused on themselves. We're focused on the President and the American people."
The president himself denied the reports on Wiles last week.
On Monday, he doubled down by giving Wiles a new job as head of a women's health initiative launched by First Lady Melania Trump, praising Wiles as a "tremendous fighter" for her battle against breast cancer.
Trump calls Wiles the "ice maiden" after the Florida political operative masterminded his 2024 election win, and until recently the first-ever female chief had maintained steely discipline at the White House.
Gone were the incessant leaks from disgruntled officials, the infighting between Trump family members and cabinet secretaries, and the personnel merry-go-round that marred Trump's first term.
But then came a series of controversies in the past two weeks.
First was Trump's hiring of the inexperienced Katie Zacharia as his press secretary, in a process that administration officials said had largely bypassed Wiles.
Five days after starting the job, Zacharia was fired after one haltering 14-minute briefing in which she answered three questions and called her husband "my president."
Trump also pushed out his ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle — the ex-fiancee of his son Don Jr — amid allegations that she sought money from one of the president's supporters.
Then Trump cancelled Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's plans to livestream the firing squad execution of a convicted military base mass shooter — a plan that Vice-President JD Vance had expressed doubts over.
Trump also ordered an investigation into a dispute between two close allies over allegations that one of them had misappropriated a donation to the Kennedy Center (which Trump has renamed after himself).
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
