White House official ousted after row with First Lady
ONE of America’s most senior national security officials has been forced out of the White House after Melania Trump took the extraordinary step of publicly calling for her departure.
Mira Ricardel, the US deputy national security adviser, only took up the post six months ago, but will now be moved to a new role in the Trump administration.
Widespread US media reports cited as a contributing factor a row between Ms Ricardel and Mrs Trump’s team about the First Lady’s trip to Africa last month. The New York Times reported that Ms Ricardel was frustrated that she had not been allocated a seat on Mrs Trump’s plane and threatened to withhold resources for the trip as a result. Clashes with other key officials were also reported.
Ms Ricardel, 58, was appointed by John Bolton, the US national security adviser who took up the role in April, and moved into the position from the Commerce Department.
After weeks of reported wrangling, Mrs Trump’s communications director Stephanie Grisham issued a forceful statement making clear the First Lady’s stance. “It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House,” Ms Grisham said of Ms Ricardel on Tuesday.
The statement, amounting to the First Lady publicly calling for the dismissal of a top security official, was unprecedented in modern presidential history.
White House historians said one had to go back to Nancy Reagan in the Eighties to find examples of a First Lady clashing so heatedly with an official, and even then it was not so public.
Initial reports that Ms Ricardel had been escorted off the White House premises proved unfounded, but the writing was on the wall and on Wednesday her departure was confirmed.
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: “Mira Ricardel will continue to support the president as she departs the White House to transition to a new role within the administration.
“The president is grateful for Ms Ricardel’s continued service to the American people and her steadfast pursuit of his national security priorities.”