MELANIA WANTS TRUMP AIDE FIRED
Melania is allegedly unhappy with how she has been treated by the aide, sources say
PRESIDENT Donald Trump was under pressure from his wife, Melania, on Tuesday to fire his deputy national security adviser over what two sources close to the White House said was the way Mrs Trump’s trip to Africa was handled.
Two presidential aides said Trump was considering forcing out deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel, but as at Tuesday afternoon, she remained in her West Wing office.
Melania’s office took the extraordinary step of issuing a statement saying Ricardel should be ousted. While first ladies historically have been known to pressure their husbands over official business, they do not typically issue statements about it.
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House,” Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokesman, said in a terse statement.
She gave no reason for why the first lady wanted Ricardel out, but several officials said it was related to Melania’s trip to Africa last month.
Melania had complained to the president that she was unhappy with how she was treated by Ricardel, a former Boeing Co executive who worked on the Trump presidential campaign and was picked by national security adviser John Bolton to be his deputy earlier this year, two other sources familiar with the White House intrigue said.
The sources said Melania ex- plicitly asked the president to oust Ricardel after their dealings over the Africa trip “didn’t go well”.
One source said Melania felt that Ricardel tried to short-change the first lady when it came to government resources allocated to support her Africa tour. The sources did not elaborate.
The National Security Council (NSC) had no immediate comment. Ricardel could not be reached for comment.
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ricardel had never met the first lady.
A source familiar with Ricardel’s White House performance said she had run afoul of much of the NSC staff and “sort of alienated everyone” except Bolton.