Members of Trump's Inner Circle Want to Keep Him Out of Spotlight: Ex Aide

Assess this article's impartiality: On Wednesday, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former insider of the Trump administration, suggested that some close to the ex-president are seeking to limit his public exposure. Having served in multiple communication roles including White House director of strategic communications in 2020, Griffin is now a political pundit and co-host. In a post last November on X, she shared her views. During her Wednesday appearance on Y, she named Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, two senior advisers in Trump's potential 2024 presidential campaign, as those who “know when to pull him back.”

Griffin cautioned against reading too much into the extent of sophistication of Trump's team, stating, "Apart from these two individuals, it's most likely an assortment of people who have either clung to him since 2016 or stayed on post-January 6th," referring to the Capitol riot in 2021. She went on to suggest that these two advisors understand that Trump's relatively low public visibility benefits them, adding, "Trump is not out there holding massive rallies like he was during this time in 2020. Although this may increase. He's off Twitter, not giving lengthy interviews, and not frequently appearing on mainstream media."

She theorized that the seeming forgetting of Trump's "chaos and crazy" by the public is evident in polling data reflecting his lead over rivals. "The more people see him, the more they're going to recollect," she noted. Based on The Economist/YouGov poll conducted from December 31 to January 2, Trump is the favored 2024 Republican presidential nominee, garnering 63 percent, while his closest Republican competitors are far behind.

Nevertheless, when pitted against the incumbent Democrat, the surveyed Americans were evenly divided between Trump and Biden, with each receiving 44 percent of support. The survey included 1,521 U.S. adults and has a 3.3% and 3% margin of error based on different calculations.

While maintaining that Trump's closest allies wish to minimize his public exposure, Griffin contended that no one has sufficient control over Trump to restrain him from “doing crazy things.” She further stated, "The most seasoned operative can't stop Trump from being his own worst enemy or convince him not to act or say eccentric things," predicting an increase in such behavior in the year's first quarter.

One notable incident was when Trump told Sean Hannity during a December town hall that he had certain plans for his first day if reelected, drawing considerable attention. Hannity asked Trump to assure America that he wouldn't misuse power for retribution, and Trump responded with a promise to secure the border and pursue massive drilling on day one. Representatives for Trump's campaign and Griffin were contacted for comment by Newsweek. As part of its commitment to challenge norms and discover commonalities, Newsweek diligently aims to uncover connections in its reporting.