Donald Trump’s White House-in-waiting is already being roiled by divisions, with the conservative outsiders who helped power his historic victory colliding with a Republican Party establishment muscling its way in.

Insiders paint a picture of constant score-keeping and simmering suspicion within Trump world — one even called it “vitriolic.” And they foresee incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, the party stalwart, and chief strategist Steve Bannon, the populist firebrand, headed for an inevitable clash.


Some have begun to chafe at the power being exhibited by Priebus — who, along with a team of lieutenants, is exerting broad influence over hiring decisions.

During one recent meeting, Trump told former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Priebus that Conway, who is aligned with Bannon and is one of the president-elect’s closest aides, would get whatever post she wanted. Priebus jumped in, responding that Conway would take a position in the administration and that he was working with her on a role, according to two people familiar with the exchange.

But Conway, who has been undecided about whether to work for Trump in the West Wing or outside the White House, sharply rejected that assertion.

Priebus, Conway said, doesn’t speak for her.

Trump appeared taken aback. “Oh, she’s tough,” he told Priebus.

Trump, a businessman-turned-politician, has long encouraged competition among factions within his organizations, creating a pressure-cooker environment where almost every decision resulted in a winner and a loser. In the end, one side would be vanquished and another would take its place, and the cycle would repeat.

Trump’s campaign was for months paralyzed as his two top aides, Paul Manafort and Corey Lewandowski, locked horns. Manafort would eventually prevail, with Lewandowski’s firing, but it wasn’t long before Manafort was supplanted by the trio of Bannon, Conway and conservative activist David Bossie.

Now, as Trump builds out his government, little seems to have changed. If anything, transition officials say, Trump seems to be relishing the idea of presiding over a divided administration.

A few weeks ago, Trump, Bannon and Conway rode in a motorcade from Trump Tower to the Long Island estate of Rebekah Mercer, an influential megadonor who has funded conservative causes at odds with the party establishment, for a “ Heroes and Villains ” costume party. Priebus was conspicuously absent.

When Trump addressed the crowd that evening, he made a point of thanking Bannon and Conway — both of whom are closely allied with Mercer — as well as Mercer herself, according to two people briefed on Trump’s remarks.

Then, Trump asked, “Where’s Reince?”

While it was not clear whether Trump intended the remark as a joke at Priebus’ expense, it nonetheless prompted knowing laughter from attendees, who regarded the chief of staff as unwelcome among the anti-establishment set.

One of the biggest flare-ups centered on the race to succeed Priebus as Republican National Committee chair, an internal battle in which Priebus got the upper hand — but not before it degenerated into an insider-vs.-outsider showdown.

Bannon, joined by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Conway and Mercer, pushed for Georgia-based Nick Ayers, an RNC outsider and Pence adviser, to get the job. Priebus, meanwhile, threw his support to Ronna Romney McDaniel, an ally who, as the sitting chair of the Michigan GOP, is a current RNC member.

As the talks intensified, some Trump aides who supported Ayers grew frustrated. Priebus, they felt, was getting behind McDaniel, the niece of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, simply because he wanted to maintain influence over the committee.

In the end, it was McDaniel who got Trump’s approval. On Friday evening, the president-elect stood backstage with McDaniel prior to a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and told her he looked forward to working together.

But there was a twist, one that underscored the deepening divide in Trump Tower.

After much horse-trading and negotiating, Trump decided that McDaniel’s RNC co-chair wouldn’t be a fellow establishment figure, but rather Bob Paduchik, a campaign loyalist who oversaw his campaign in Ohio. (Trump has yet to officially announce the McDaniel-Paduchik RNC partnership, though it is expected to be rolled out in the coming days.)

Priebus has prevailed in other early personnel contests. Two of his top lieutenants, Katie Walsh and Sean Spicer, are all but certain to get senior positions, and there has been talk that Raj Shah, who oversaw Priebus’ research shop at the RNC, will be hired, too.

“Those are huge wins for Reince,” said one transition adviser. “Trump works on a power proximity matrix, so if he’s seeing Reince and his people every day in the White House, that gives him a lot of juice.”

Priebus’ momentum has stoked concern among Trump’s conservative loyalists, who fear they will be left out in the cold after risking their careers to support him when few Republican operatives would. Some of them described the RNC forces as highly organized and said there was rising concern that they would move swiftly to lock down the most coveted West Wing jobs. And while RNC staffers have a supporter in Priebus, loyalists say, it’s not always clear who’s advocating on their behalf.

As anxiety has increased, so, too, has suspicion. One Trump aide, who has yet to lock down a job, said he recently observed a closed room full of RNC staffers in Trump Tower pecking away at laptops and wondered what they were up to.

“The transition has taken a decidedly nasty and more vitriolic turn,” said another aide, who said each day brought “more division and more pieces of contention to argue over.”

Trump is aware of the rancor. Last week, after POLITICO published a story detailing how many of Trump’s longest-serving loyalists hadn’t been contacted about jobs, the president-elect responded angrily. He told Priebus to fix it, four transition sources said.

Priebus subsequently reached out to a number of loyalists, including Lewandowski, to reassure them. They would be taken care of, he promised — there had simply been more focus on filling high-level Cabinet posts than on West Wing staffing.

Those close to Priebus dispute the idea that he’s stocking the administration with his allies. During staffing discussions, they say, RNC officials have been working with former Trump campaign staffers to ensure that neither side is getting a disproportionate share of posts, according to a transition team official.

“There is constant horse-trading and balancing,” said the official. “Every one piece you take off the board is another less piece that you have to bargain with.”

But there’s no hostility, the official argued, stressing that it’s the president-elect who makes the final call on every staffing decision.

And, as is often the case with Trump, he sometimes goes his own way — without regard for his staff’s sensitivities.