One of America’s most senior national security officials has been forced out of the White House after Melania Trump, the US president’s wife, publicly called for her departure through a spokesman.
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 a row between Ms Ricardel and Mrs Trump’s team about the First Lady’s trip to Africa last month as a contributing factor.
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The New York Times reported that Ms Ricardel was frustrated 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.
AP
After weeks of reported behind-the-scenes tussling, 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 honor of serving in this White House,” Ms Grisham said of Ms Ricardel on Tuesday.
The statement, which amounted to a wife of the president publicly calling for the dismissal of a top security official, was unprecedented in modern presidential history.
White House historians said you had to go back to Nancy Reagan, the wife of Ronald Reagan who was in the Oval Office in the 1980s, to find examples of a First Lady clashing so heatedly with an official, and even then it was not done so publicly.
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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 from the role 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.”
It is unclear what new role she will take up.