One result of this hiring process was that nobody had ever staffed a modern White House with so few people who knew how government worked. Rather than seeking out experienced hands, he enlisted a team as unschooled and unprepared as he was. In part, this was out of disdain for expertise and “the Swamp,” as he called Washington, but it was also a function of his refusal to hire anyone who had said anything critical of him during the campaign, which ruled out a large swath of Republican professionals.
