If Susie Wiles Can't Say Anything Nice About Ric Grenell, She Can Sit Right Here By Us
OK, not too close. We only agree on the one thing.
There are terrible things happening in Donald Trump’s America every day, but it’s the weekend, so let’s pop some popcorn and look at this juicy, gossipy, very Mean Girls story from The Daily Mail (archive link) about sleazy Trump lickspittle Ric Grenell and his precipitous fall from Trumperial favor in the second Trump term, mostly due to what the story says is his own idiotic antagonism toward fellow asshole (but not ally) Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff. He dreamed of power and influence, but he ended up in charge of the Kennedy Center, where he’s had to settle for fighting with performers cancelling their shows instead of shaping world events.
It’s so sad entertaining when terrible people can’t get along.
Yes, yes, we know, The Daily Mail. Ew. Gutter tabloid, but they manage to survive in the plaintiff-friendly environs of British libel law, which leads us to believe that they’ve got very real, very spiteful sources in the Trump administration and elsewhere. And given Grenell’s reputation as an asshole, we’re sure there’s no shortage of people willing to dish on him, like the “two former colleagues” who were happy to call him a “a ruthlessly ambitious asshole,” although the Mail replaces every letter except “a” with asterisks. Maybe they really said “adapter” or “analogy.”
In Trump’s first term, Grenell was despised by everyone in Germany when he was ambassador to that country; and then he served for a while as Trump’s incompetent director of national intelligence, setting a low bar under which Tulsi Gabbard managed to slide in the second term. We learn from the Mail story that during the 2024 campaign, Grenell lobbied, annoyingly and unsuccessfully, for the VP slot, and that he hoped to at least get a real good cabinet job like secretary of State.
Ah, but it was not to be, because during the Republican National Convention, when our new shoes were killing our feet, Grenell got into a big fight with Wiles over when and how long he’d be allowed to speak at the convention.
‘He screamed at Susie, and he told her, “You’re the reason why we’re going to lose this f***ing election!”’ the same source close to the White House told the Daily Mail. The confrontation was so intense that Wiles was reportedly left on the verge of tears.
He probably didn’t know it at the time, but that single outburst sealed Grenell’s fate, freezing him out of any serious cabinet-level roles in Trump 2.0.
‘He berated Susie Wiles because he didn’t get a primetime speaking spot at the convention,’ that source added. ‘That’s why he doesn’t have ... a big job. It’s why he was never considered for Secretary of State.’
Hilariously, the story goes on to note that Grenell denied any such tiff, and even called the Daily Mail to tell reporters that “Wiles herself would reach out to confirm the story was untrue. That call from Wiles never came.”
When the Mail reporters called Grenell again to ask for comment on his failed prediction that she would also deny the fracas, “he abruptly ended the call.”
Instead, Chris LaCivita, who helped run the Trump 2024 campaign with Wiles told the Daily Mail: 'Whoever is feeding you this silly shit is an asshat.' [rude words restored by Yr Wonkette]
And apparently she’s still mad at him, according to a “source close to the Trump family” who said Wiles continues to make fun of him inside the Oval Office.
'Susie fucking hates his guts,' the Trump family source said. The impression given inside Trump's inner orbit was that Grenell could cause the administration headaches due to his overseas dealings.
Grenell's circle was nicknamed 'the misfit toys caucus,' according to this source. [Again, Yr Wonkette has unasterisked the quote]
In one instance of Grenell’s attempts to play diplomat, the Mail says that Grenell tried to arrange a private one-on-one between Trump and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić last May, but while Vučić was able to fly into the US, Wiles blocked the meeting before it could happen, leaving the Serbian president in an “awkward spot,” per the source. Maybe it was a Waffle House in Palm Beach, who knows?
The story says Grenell was involved in a business deal with the Serbian government and Jared Kushner to develop a “$500 million luxury hotel and memorial complex in downtown Belgrade,” but that it now “seems the deal may have fallen through.”
The final-ish straw may have come in the runup to Trump’s Venezuela adventure, when Grenell tangled with Marco Rubio over how to deal with Nicolas Maduro and lost, which had to be a very special kind of humiliation.
'Even Maria Machado refused to meet with him,' a US diplomat who worked with Grenell explained. 'We heard she did not want to deal with him, and did not like what he stood for.' […]
'She thought Grenell was beneath her... didn't understand who Grenell was, he is a nobody in Latin America. She was also cautious, she didn't know or trust him,' the diplomat explained, adding that Machado didn't want to be seen as being used for symbolic purposes.
And now Grenell is the head of a theater where nobody wants to perform, and which Trump will close in July, perhaps so he can gut the memorial to JFK and replace it with a 100-story marble statue of himself. So sad!
[Daily Mail (archive link)
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So, funny thing: I was supposed to post the usual Saturday stories today, and, well, I FORGOT to read and sked them. At least Robyn put something up for you to chat with each other all day!
You will have two stories tomorrow, and your usually scheduled movie tonight, which starts off with a hilarious riff about those responsible for a series of mishaps being sacked.
I will now go fire myself and then get the rest of the weekend content together, and when Rebecca gets back in a week, you wonderful filthy fuckaducks don't need to tell her anything was out of the ordinary today, right?
The movie post is up, tonight we are watching 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥.
In honor of Woman In the Persistence/Woman Coming Home or informally WiTP, who we lost 2 weeks ago. I will say, she crossed the Rainbow Bridge as I believe she would love that. Back with her beloved Thor.
This was one of her favorite films.
The Wonkette family is what makes this place like no other.
WiTP used to to love to come to the movie thread and bust my chops about any movie she was not a fan of and I adored her for it. She was a passionate human and so when she loved a movie that we were watching she was all in on the fun.
And on the WonkZoom she made sure to stop the chitchat to say how much she loved what I was doing with Movie Night. She never forgot to say how much love she had for her friends.
I remember many years back when I first started going beyond lurking in the Disqus days and chatting with WITP. We talked about cleaning wood floors of all things, she helped me feel comfortable in the untamed wilderness of the Wonkette non-comments. I would guess she did that for many.
Stop by and just drop some love for WITP even if you don't do Movie Night, tonight is for her.