Donald Trump must feel like he’s back on the set of The Apprentice after three members of his administration have been fired one after the other. After Trump gave Rex Tillerson the pink slip apparently through Twitter, the president’s long-time personal assistant was also let go. This was followed by news that Steve Goldstein, Tillerson’s deputy, was also fired.
White House sources said that John McEntee was fired on Monday because of an “ unspecified security issue ,” according to Wall Street Journal . The former starting quarterback of the Connecticut football team was abruptly escorted from the White House on the same day.
According to CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, however, McEntee was fired in connection with an ongoing investigation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. CNN Chief National Security correspondent Jim Sciutto echoed Collins’ claims in a tweet . According to them, McEntee is being investigated for “ serious financial crimes ,” reported Fortune .
The firing of McEntee was apparently so sudden that he didn’t get a chance to get his belongings before he was removed from the premises. Kyle Griffin of MSNBC tweeted that a White House official said McEntee was not even “allowed to collect his belongings.” He apparently left his jacket at his former workplace, said another White House official.
Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two senior administration officials tell WSJ.
The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third W.H. official with knowledge of the situation. https://t.co/5shYheTBiU
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 13, 2018
McEntee has been with Trump since the early stages of the president’s campaign. His job as the president’s body man meant he, along with long-time bodyguard Keith Schiller, had to be with Trump all the time. Trump appointed Schiller as the Deputy Assistant to the President and the Director of Oval Office Operations. Schiller resigned on September 2017 and was later interviewed in connection with the rumored Russian collusion.
Minutes after it was reported that he was fired, the Trump campaign announced that Johnny McEntee would be joining the reelection effort as a senior adviser for campaign operations. Now I’m told he’s under investigation for serious financial crimes https://t.co/WcOhEgGgMd
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 13, 2018
McEntee, Tillerson, and Goldstein are just three of six senior Trump administration officials who have left in the last couple of weeks. The other three recent White House exits were Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks, and Josh Raffel.
Cohn resigned as the president’s top economic advisor after Trump said he would require stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, CNBC reported.
Trump hired Hicks as his press secretary for his presidential campaign before she was appointed as the White House Communications Director. Hicks’ resignation plans were revealed a day after she testified to the House Intelligence Committee that she had to tell “white lies” while working for the Trump administration.
Raffel announced his resignation as senior communications officer in late February. The former Hollywood PR executive worked closely with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
McEntee didn’t stay unemployed for long as he was immediately hired by Brad Parscale as part of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. He will now serve as a senior adviser for campaign operations along with former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson.