He added, “We found out that they think if Trump does it, it’s normal — get over it.”
The underlying tether that Mr. Trump is using to keep Mr. Mulvaney close, some advisers and former aides say, is a recognition that his scorched-earth farewells to other senior officials have left a number of them willing to tell secrets about what they saw while they served him.
Within the White House, Mr. Mulvaney has a number of allies among his subordinates. But at a more senior level, he has repeatedly been at odds with the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, who came into his job not long after Mr. Mulvaney stepped into the chief of staff role.
Mr. Mulvaney and Mr. Cipollone had an extensive disagreement the day the White House released the transcript of Mr. Trump’s call on July 25 with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Since then, the counsel’s office staff has repeatedly been frustrated by Mr. Mulvaney, seeing him as an impediment to helping the president.
And like everyone else, Mr. Mulvaney has the shadow of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to remind him that there are few permanent fixtures in this White House besides Mr. Trump’s family members.
Mr. Kushner has told White House officials that he supports Mr. Mulvaney, but he has also told associates that he has fielded complaints about him over time. Mr. Kushner was said to be frustrated by Mr. Mulvaney’s podium gaffe.
Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary for President Bill Clinton and faced his own daily barrage of impeachment questions, said of Mr. Mulvaney, “It was malpractice to send him out there, given his lack of experience, lack of skills and a clear lack of preparation.”
But, Mr. Lockhart added: “One thing I do give him credit for, he covered himself. He was very clear that anything he did on Ukraine was at the direction of the president.”
Michael Crowley reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York.