Trump’s West Wing hit list grows
President may be launching big shakeup
• Donald Trump’s patience with his administration’s “no” men appeared finally up Friday as speculation of imminent firings entered overdrive.
The U.S. president was reportedly on the brink of dismissing a string of moderating figures who have hemmed in his hard line instincts over the past year.
H.R. McMaster, the threestar general who is Trump’s national security adviser, was at the top the hit list after months of fraught relations between the pair. John Kelly, another military man seen as a restraining influence as chief of staff, and Jeff Sessions, the beleaguered attorney general, were also reportedly in the firing line.
But Trump’s frustration al- so included cabinet members hit by sleaze allegations and White House aides who have got on his nerves, according to numerous media reports.
Washington was braced for a shakeup Friday, with #firingfriday circulating on social media and aides admitting privately that no one knew what Trump planned.
Reports of tumult in the administration were at such a feverish pitch that the president on Thursday reflected on the latest staff departures during an Oval Office conversation with Kelly and vicepresident Mike Pence.
With a laugh, Trump said: “Who’s next?”
It’s the question that has the whole White House on edge.
Trump’s renewed confidence appears to partly explain recent personnel changes, with reports suggesting the president feels more settled after 14 months in the job. His first cabinet was packed with “grownups” rather than “yes” men, helping guide the first-time politician through the challenges of office. But recent upheavals hint at a change in approach.
Rex Tillerson, who as secretary of state opposed Trump’s desire to rip up the Iran nuclear deal and rattle sabres over North Korea, has been replaced by Mike Pompeo, the CIA head who has “chemistry” with the president.
Gary Cohn, the former Wall Street titan who quit as Trump’s top economics adviser over steel tariffs, has been replaced by Larry Kudlow, a TV commentator reportedly willing to swallow his initial opposition to trade barriers.
Others waiting in the wings are aligned to the president’s views, not least John Bolton, the ex-UN ambassador under George W. Bush, said to be first in line to replace McMaster. Bolton, 69, was in the Oval Office last week and is renowned as a foreign policy hawk, writing a piece last month headlined The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First.
Kelly has told confidants he believes he can weather the storm and that he does not plan to quit. But he has grown increasingly frustrated with the constant turmoil, believing at times that Trump intentionally fuels the chaos to keep his staff on its toes and his name in media headlines, according to a person familiar with the chief of staff ’s thinking.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s press secretary, said the chief of staff spoke with staff Friday morning. She said Kelly “reassured them there were no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people shouldn’t be concerned.”
Sanders said she spoke to the president about McMaster on Thursday night and he had “no intention of changing” and “looked forward to continuing working with him.”
The fervent speculation comes after weeks of mounting sleaze allegations.
David Shulkin, Trump’s veterans affairs secretary, was forced to deny he attempted to bring his wife to the Invictus Games in Canada to meet Prince Harry. It followed an Inspector General’s report that concluded Shulkin should reimburse the cost of his wife’s taxpayer-funded flight to London, which also saw him improperly accept Wimbledon tickets.
Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, spent nearly $1 million on eight trips on military aircraft last year, including one to Las Vegas. Ben Carson, the housing secretary, has been under fire over an order for a $31,000 dining set for his office, which was later cancelled.