As we have seen numerous times throughout the Trump presidency, if the president is displeased with a member of his cabinet, he need only speak his favorite catchphrase, “you’re fired,” and the individual in question is sent home packing. The Trump Administration has relieved multiple cabinet members and government officials from their posts in the last two years including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy National Security Adviser Nadia Schadlow, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, Secretary of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Head Chef Spongebob Squarepants, the latter of which being the most upsetting.
The exits of these high-ranking officials have historically been on President Trump’s terms given that he is the president, but sources say the next round of layoffs will come from a Trump, but not Mr. President.
The newest member of the Trump clan to swing the ax is none other than the First Lady Melania Trump. As for the person targeted in her sight, the First Lady highly suggests President Trump move to fire Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel. According to CNN sources, Ricardel wasn’t the most popular kid in the classroom. She made many enemies while working for the Trump Administration and one source said her firing is largely in part to her hobby of “bullying” White House aides.
These acts of masochistic cruelty flew below the radar and Ricardel skated onward until she messed with the wrong First Lady. On Mrs. Trump’s most recent humanitarian mission to Africa, sources say there was an issue between Ricardel and the first lady regarding a seat on the outbound flight last month.
In a White House with more plot twists than an episode of Netflix’s (NFLX) “House of Cards,” Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the first lady, sent an email to members of the White House press core:
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.”
–Stephanie Grisham, Spokeswoman, Office of the First Lady
According to the NY Times, Ms. Ricardel had played with fire, on multiple occasions, and was widely distrusted among other West Wing staff. She regularly spread negative stories, many of which were disparaging to the first lady. Following H.R. protocol of reporting the subordinate behavior to a supervisor, Mrs. Trump tattled to John F. Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff, about Ricardel.
As with any good old-fashioned Trump family firing, one layoff is never enough. Several political analysts believe President Trump will place Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on the chopping block. First reported by the Washington Post, the President announced his plans to remove Nielsen because of her “lackluster performance on immigration enforcement.” Back in May, President Trump berated Security Nielsen in front of all other cabinet members. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s tirade lasted over half an hour, and there was no way Nielsen was getting out of being grounded, missy!
“Why don’t you have solutions? How is this still happening? We need to shut it down. We’re closed.”
–President Donald Trump
Trump has been more fiesta than usual in the last few weeks, dealing with massive frustrations due to the caravan of thousands of migrant Hondurans headed for the US border as well as the aftermath of the US midterm elections. As Secretary of Homeland Security, Ms. Nielsen has been at the forefront of implementing strategies to limit illegal immigration, but no matter how hard she’s tried, in the end, it didn’t even matter to President Trump.
The Trump administration runs rampant with nepotistic appointments to positions of political power, and the President’s heeding of the first lady’s call to fire Ms. Ricardel only furthers the perspective that Trump believes, above everything including running our nation’s government, that family comes first.
