White House aide Mira Ricardel removed from post after Melania Trump said she should be
A senior White House aide who very publicly fell out with Melania Trump has now been removed from her post, administration officials said.
Mira Ricardel, Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, is said to have clashed with the first lady over arrangements for the latter’s tour of Africa.
Political observers were stunned when Ms Trump responded by issuing a public statement saying Ms Ricardel “no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House”. First ladies have been known to wield influence on personnel decisions in the past, but not to issue press releases about it.
In a statement just 24 hours later, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ms Ricardel was being moved to another post. She did not elaborate on where the new job would be, nor on who would be replacing her in the key national security role.
Ms Ricardel “will continue to support the president as she departs the White House to transition to a new role within the administration”, Ms Sanders said.
Ms Ricardel is a former Commerce Department official who was hand-picked by Mr Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, to serve as his deputy. Mr Bolton fought to keep Ms Ricardel in spite of the row with Melania Trump but failed, two administration officials told Reuters.
According to US media reports, Ms Ricardel and Ms Trump argued over seating arrangements on flights during the Africa trip two weeks ago.
An unnamed administration official said they also disagreed over the allocation of government resources for the trip, specifically from the National Security Council budget.
During a rare interview with ABC on the tour, which encompassed Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, Ms Trump said there were people in the White House who she did not trust. A Wall Street Journal article reported that Ms Trump blamed Ms Ricardel for some of the “negative stories” about the first lady and her staff.
Ms Ricardel’s removal comes amid reports that Mr Trump is preparing another shakeup of his White House staff, with homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also rumoured to be in the firing line.
Mr Trump’s two years in the White House have come with unprecedented staff turnover. Ms Ricardel was the third person under Mr Trump to hold the post of deputy national security adviser alone.
