President Donald Trump’s inner circle is expected to shrink even further as the White House braces for more people to quit.
While Trump has already lost some of his top advisors in recent weeks, more senior officials are considering hanging it up in the coming months, Bloomberg News reported.
It is normal for staffers to leave White House roles ahead of the midterm elections, but some departures, including Karoline Leavitt’s shocking exit, took staffers by surprise, according to the report.
While Leavitt is expected to stay in Trumpworld, her departure from the White House has been viewed as a huge loss for the president’s communication strategy, as she was one of his most public-facing ardent supporters.
In addition to Leavitt, James Braid, White House director of legislative affairs and a longtime Trump aide, announced earlier this month that he would be quitting in the next few weeks.
Nearly a dozen staffers have left the White House in recent weeks, including Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson, Deputy National Security Adviser Andy Baker, Special Assistant to the President Lea Bardon, director of cabinet affairs, Emily Underwood, an advisor to Stephen Miller, and Director of Media Affairs Sonny Joy Nelson.
But the staffing woes come when the president is already struggling on multiple fronts with his failing war in Iran and problems at home, as his erratic trade war with Canada is expected to further drive up prices. His approval rating has also reached a historic low.
The 2026 midterm elections are also already expected to be disastrous for Republicans, as Democrats are expected to win back control of the House and potentially the Senate. With that legislative makeup, the Trump administration could be susceptible to subpoenas and investigations on Capitol Hill.
“This also is, without question, the hardest time to hire into an administration,” Lisa Camooso Miller, a former Republican National Committee communications director, told Bloomberg.
She added, “The real question is, who’s going to fill these roles? Will they be the right people, and will they be people that the president listens to? It’s not so much about the vacancies, but who’s willing to go into the second two years of an administration that largely will face headwinds with a change in Congress.”
