DOWNSIZING

Report: Trump Orders Purge of Communications Team to Stop Leaks

The shakeup will reportedly affect mid-level and junior aides.

President Trump has reportedly ordered a major shakeup of his communications team in a bid to stop leaks. Sources cited by Politico say White House chief of staff John Kelly has already approved of a plan to purge some mid-level and junior aides in the communications department in the coming weeks. Some staffers could be fired, while others will simply be reassigned to other departments, according to the report. The move is said to have been prompted by the backlash the White House received after a junior staffer’s callous remark about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) got out to the press. Trump reportedly spoke to the staffer, communications aide Kelly Sadler, and asked her and others to rat out any leakers they might know of in the press shop. The White House moved swiftly after the McCain controversy to prevent further leaks, limiting invitations to the the president’s daily communications meetings to a smaller group of advisers.