Except that if his administration wasn't so far behind on staffing up the department, they'd already have their communications people in place and wouldn't need to put in a "gag order". On top of that, it's Washington, DC, if you tell them not to talk, that's probably the best way to get civil servants to start leaking. And then good luck trying to control the message.

> Except that if his administration wasn't so far behind on staffing up the department,

"Except" sounds like you're trying very hard to disagree while specifically agreeing, for some reason. The failure to staff is the silent reason he made the proclamation (as Trump maybe imagines in his own mind).

Well I'm disagreeing that it's similar to how other, more competent, administrations have done things in the past. Whether it's how things are done in the corporate world or not is kind of irrelevant as government plays by different rules. I also think it's a bad idea on its face since it leads to overreaction in the media and won't have its intended effect since it only encourages unattributed leaks rather than normal communication where the people running the government at least know who is saying things.

> I also think it's a bad idea on its face

Definitely. Leaking information isn't just righteous, it's fun and can be monetized...there's just too much incentive.

I think this is what "running the government like a business" means. Companies are tightly controlled from the top so they want to apply the same blueprint to government.