Trump pushes out senior adviser at start of White House reshuffle

An angry President Donald Trump pushes out a senior adviser on Wednesday after First Lady Melania Trump demanded her sacking, with more heads set to roll in a White House reshuffle triggered by infighting and setbacks in the midterm elections.

Melania made the extremely rare demand for deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel to be fired on Tuesday, saying “she no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House”.

The protocol-busting move followed a falling out that press leaks said was linked to a dispute over seating arrangements on the plane that took the first lady for a tour of African countries in October. Ricardel was also reportedly blamed for negative news coverage of Melania .

The first lady at least partially got her way on Wednesday when presidential spokesman Sarah Sanders announced that Ricardel “departs the White House to transition to a new role within the administration”.

The start to the second half of Trump’s first term is enveloped in gloom as the president surveys the damage from the midterms, tension with some of America’s closest allies, and now turmoil inside the administration.

On Wednesday, he was quoted by right-wing website The Daily Caller saying that a wider reshuffle was coming.

“A lot of people want to come in, a lot of politicians who have had very successful careers want to come in,” he said.

The biggest name on the chopping block, according to multiple US media reports, is chief of staff John Kelly.

A retired Marine Corps general, he has often been referred to as “the adult in the room” during Trump’s drama-prone administration, even if critics said he had done little to temper the president’s damaging outbursts.

Kelly’s days are numbered, according to the unconfirmed but mounting leaks to US media.

His position, tenuous for months, has been undermined further by reports that he also clashed with Melania — a relatively backstage first lady who has rarely made her influence so obviously felt as this week.

Melania was angry that Kelly had refused to promote some of her aides, reports say.

Nick Ayers, a 36-year-old chief of staff to Vice-President Mike Pence and renowned political consultant, is reportedly high on the list to replace Kelly.