Trump adviser says he’s ditching ‘drain the swamp’

One of Donald Trump’s advisers says the president-elect is no longer interested in his rallying cry “drain the swamp.”

“I’m told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn’t want to use it anymore,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says in an interview aired on NPR. Gingrich, a vice chairman of the transition team, also predicts there will be “constant fighting” over Trump’s efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and Washington insiders.

Trump’s aides say he remains committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Trump also prohibits any lobbyists from joining his transition team or administration unless they de-register.

“President-elect Trump’s ethics reform policies are full speed ahead,” transition spokesman Jason Miller says. “We’re going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first.”

“‘Drain the swamp'” became a staple of the final month of Trump’s campaign, with crowds chanting it as loudly as they had been shouting “build the wall” and “lock her up.” The slogan also appeared on T-shirts and signs.

It has remained part of Trump’s post-election “thank you” tour. Whether in Ohio or Florida, the crowd continued to shout along with the president-elect as he vowed to curtail corruption in Washington — even as he revealed that he wasn’t always crazy about the catchphrase.

“Funny how that term caught on, isn’t it?” Trump mused during a rally this month in Des Moines, Iowa. “I tell everyone, I hated it. Somebody said ‘drain the swamp’ and I said, ‘Oh, that is so hokey. That is so terrible.'”

— AP