Trump contemplates purge of the White House

Senior officials could be axed as the president seeks a ‘reboot’ amid the fallout from FBI chief’s sacking

DONALD TRUMP is considering a purge of his senior White House staff as he searches for a “huge reboot” following the most damaging week of his presidential term, political sources in Washington said last night.

Taken aback by the fallout from his sudden dismissal of James Comey, the FBI director, and on the hunt for someone to blame, the president was said to be toying with firing senior allies, from Reince Priebus, his chief of staff, to Sean Spicer, his press secretary.

“He’s frustrated, and angry at everyone,” one confidant told the American press, adding that the president was thinking about “going big” with his response. “The question now is how big and how bold.”

The Trump administration is facing questions over why the president decided to remove Mr Comey, who was leading the inquiry into allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia during the election. Democrats kept up the pressure yesterday, with leading politicians warning that they may refuse to vote on the nomination of a new FBI director, who would have to be confirmed by the Senate, until a special prosecutor was appointed.

“To have that special prosecutor, people would breathe a sigh of relief, because then there would be a real independent person overlooking the FBI director,” said Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader.

And there were mounting calls, including from Republicans, for Mr Trump to turn over any tapes of his conversations with Mr Comey, after the president suggested he may have a secretly recorded them.

Mark Warner, the most senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, called Mr Trump’s suggestion “outrageous” and said it was reminiscent of the Watergate scandal that forced former president Richard Nixon to resign.

Lindsey Graham, a powerful Republican in the Senate, who has previously defended Mr Trump, said this was not a matter to be “cute” with.

“If there’s tapes of this conversation, they need to be turned over,” he said. Adding Mr Trump’s tweet about the alleged recordings was “inappropriate”. The turmoil is said to be no less bitter inside the White House. Informed sources said Mr Trump has been stewing all week, interrogating aides as he investigates how each negative headline in the media came to light.

He is said to be particularly angry at his communications office and has spoken candidly with advisers about a broad shake-up that could include demotions or dismissals.

The president is increasingly of the opinion that he needs a more ferocious defender than Mr Spicer has been, some sources said.

In a sign of the strains, Mr Trump reportedly did not inform Mr Spicer, or Mike Dubke, his communications director, of his decision to fire Mr Comey until about an hour before it was announced.

Afterwards, White House aides scrambled to come up with a rationale, which was later apparently contradicted by the president.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has denied allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives. “We had nothing to do with Russia,” he told Fox News, adding that he wants “to get to the bottom” of the questions about Russian influence in the election.