An increasingly isolated President Trump is reportedly still talking to disgraced former White House staff secretary Rob Porter and has told aides that he wants to bring him back, the New York Times reported Monday evening.Trump has reportedly kept in touch with the former aide, who resigned in February amid accusations of domestic abuse from his two ex-wives, the Times reported, citing three people familiar with the conversations.Though the exact number of conversations between Porter and Trump is unclear, Trump has apparently increased the frequency of the phone calls in recent weeks and the two discussed Trump’s trade announcements. (Similar reports flourished after former White House chief of staff Steve Bannon left the administration last summer.)Both Trump and Chief of Staff John Kelly were quick to effuse praise on Porter when the allegations first surfaced; Kelly initially called Porter a “a man of true integrity and honor” and Trump said Porter had done a “very good job” and wished him a “great career.”Their comments came after both of Porter’s ex-wives went public with stories of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse in February. Porter's first ex-wife, Colbie Holderness, also provided a photo of a black eye she said Porter gave her. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Holderness also wrote that “living in constant fear of Rob’s anger and being subjected to his degrading tirades for years chipped away at my independence and sense of self-worth. “Porter has denied the allegations.The Trump administration has seen a record-setting turnover rate, triple that of Obama, and double that of the runner-up, Reagan, according to a study by the Brookings Institute.
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