Trump’s Inner Circle Braces for a New Year’s Shakeup
For weeks, speculation has swirled that Trump may be plotting a reset after a scandal-ridden first year back in office.
President Donald Trump may be plotting a radical purge of top advisers as his administration staggers into the second year of his second stint at the White House.
Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
“I think we will see some senior advisers in the West Wing leave,” CBS News’ senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs told the network Sunday.
Jacobs clarified that Trump’s “main pack” of inner circle advisers—Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt—are likely to remain insulated from any cull—but said she believed other departures may be possible.
Jacobs thinks Wiles is likely safe from any prospective cull.
Brendan Smialowki/AFP/Getty Images
As of Sunday, Trump has been back in office for exactly 341 days, with his administration engulfed in near-constant controversies and crises from almost the moment he retook the Oval Office.
Noem has lately fended off allegations she's failed to impress Trump as Homeland Security Secretary.
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AFP via Getty Images
The president has fueled many of the scandals in his second stint in the White House himself. Still, many of his Cabinet members have also found themselves in the eyes of MAGA’s seemingly unending succession of firestorms.
Patel has similarly come under fire for his perceived mishandling of high-profile investigations.
Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images
The past eleven months have featured a parade of blunders and controversies, from accidentally adding journalists to government group chats and bungling manhunts for suspected assassins to spearheading politicized prosecutions and overseeing manic redactions to long-awaited investigative documents on one of the most notorious sex trafficking conspiracies in history.
Hegseth currently stands accused of green-lighting war crimes in the Caribbean Sea.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Speculation has mounted that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been dogged by allegations of an affair with a top adviser, has failed to convince Trump that she’s up for the job.
Bondi meanwhile faces impeachment and contempt of Congress calls over her handling of the Epstein files.
Andrew Harnik/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Dissatisfaction is also allegedly growing with FBI Director Kash Patel, accused of mishandling the hunt for suspects in the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk earlier in September and the shooting at Brown University in December that killed two students.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s often tenuous grip on the Pentagon is also said to be wearing thin with West Wing power brokers, while U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing intense scrutiny over what critics view as her mishandling of the Epstein files controversy.
“[Trump] doesn’t like to be pressured to get rid of anybody,” CBS chief Washington analyst Robert Costa reflected Sunday. “But there are so many people in the so-called MAGA universe who want these slots, and they are able to get access to these officials.”
“I wouldn’t rule anything out, based on my reporting,” he added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on this story.
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