A view of the North Portico of the White House, Wednesday June 14, 2017 in Washington D.C. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

This letter was written in response to the New York Time’s anonymous op-ed written by a senior official in the White House and published on September 5th, 2018.

Dear Anonymous Trump Aide,

You should resign. You have been appointed to do a job – whether it is to advise the president, write reports or any number of other tasks, that is your job. Your job is not to “[work] diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.” I get it; President Trump’s policy ideas are far from the norm and often times I do not agree with them but that does not give you the right to work to undermine the president’s authority from the inside.

If you do not agree with the president’s directives resign and continue your resistance from the outside. No matter how right or justified you are in your complaints and opinions, it is inappropriate to use your position to create further turmoil in the White House. You make very valid points on the mental state, flip-flop nature and questionable practices of President Trump. However, you were appointed and trusted to work diligently alongside the president; yet you have broken that trust and are doing the exact opposite.  

I am beginning to think however that this oh-so-noble resistance is less about saving our country but more so about saving Republican Party’s reputation. You said it yourself: the 25th Amendment allows the option for your ‘resistance’ to remove the president. I am willing to bet it was not because “no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis” that you all neglected to do this, but rather you all are too scared to be ousted and face the consequences from the far-right voters. If you really wanted to reach across the aisle, this would not be a factor.  

The Republican Party gains from your resistance. President Donald Trump is damaging to their brand but to admit that would be political suicide. Your true objective, I hypothesize, is to present the notion that not all Republicans are amoral, adversarial and petty as you suggest President Trump is. You are trying to convince the American people that there are still Republicans in the White House who will stop at nothing to protect democracy and our Nation. You do not need to convince me of that. There are countless Republicans who truly care about this country (and do not necessarily agree with President Trump), but I am not convinced you are one of them. If you were, you and your colleagues would have either invoked the 25th Amendment regardless of the political consequences, ousted yourself and publically come out against the president or you would have resigned to continue your resistance from the outside.  

Regardless of your true intent – whether to revive what is remaining of the Republican Party’s image or protect the republic – I do not think sneaking around inside the White House’s inner circle actively trying to undermine the president is an appropriate course of action. Not only does it break a bond of trust between you and the president, it creates further turmoil and suspicion in an already crowded den of snakes. Your resistance may have prevented potential presidential outbursts or radicle policy changes but it will only further deteriorate the authenticity of the executive branch and the trust that should be shared by those within.