Early Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed four senior government officials appointed by his predecessor, signaling a broader shake-up in his administration. In his first post on Truth Social since his inauguration, Trump warned that “over a thousand more” officials could face imminent dismissal. Among those listed for termination were Jose Andres from the Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition; Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council; Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars; and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.
The moves come just days after Trump pledged to reform civil service rules and reduce bureaucracy, including shutting down departments to improve efficiency. His comments sent government institutions into a tizzy, with some employees fearing they could be axed if they do not follow the rules.
The firings were the first move in a wave of policy and personnel changes that may shock the federal workforce. Senior career diplomats at the State Department were called into private meetings on Monday and asked to resign immediately, according to people familiar with the matter. The calls were made by the department’s global talent management team and not the president’s office, indicating that Trump has not yet taken control of his administration.
One of the key changes Trump is bringing to the immigration system was evident in the firing of Mary Cheng, the acting head of the immigration court system. The removal came on the same day as Trump issued pardons to most of those convicted of rioting at the Capitol on January 6 and ordered the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for more criminals, fulfilling campaign promises.
Other significant moves include plans to reclassify thousands of job-protected and apolitical civil servants as political appointees who can be fired at will and a doubling down on the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Officials are also looking to make it harder for migrants to obtain asylum in the US by requiring them to prove they have been persecuted or harmed in their home countries while imposing stricter border security measures and increasing penalties for drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The president’s flurry of new actions also included signing an executive order to give TikTok, the popular video-making and sharing app owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, a reprieve from a ban that went into effect on Sunday and a visit to the White House press corps room. The move was a departure from tradition, as it is typically reserved for the second press conference of a president’s tenure. The move was a nod to the media’s growing influence over the presidency. Trump argued that the media had misreported his policies and distorted the narrative around the 2021 Capitol riots. “The ‘fake news’ media is the enemy of the American people,” Trump said. “It must be stopped!” He vowed to do so by putting journalists in check.