Trump retires "You're fired" mantra in his second term
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President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attend a meeting in the White House State Dining Room last year. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Trump dismissed a bipartisan groundswell calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired after Alex Pretti was killed — a new example of a top Trump official surviving a high-profile humiliation.
Why it matters: On TV, Trump was known for: "You're fired!" In his second term as president, he resists ousting aides who mess up.
The big picture: No Cabinet secretaries or senior White House officials have been fired during Trump's second term. Former national security adviser Mike Waltz was moved to U.S. ambassador to the UN after the Signalgate fiasco.
- Government purges last year, particularly during Elon Musk's DOGE campaign, were focused largely on Biden administration holdovers and rank-and-file bureaucrats.
Compare that with the pace of turnover in Trump's first term, when he set a modern record for year-one turnover among senior staff.
- In just the first 12 months of that term, Trump pulled the plug on his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, national security adviser, chief strategist, communications director (x2), press secretary and Health and Human Services secretary.
There are three main reasons behind Trump's stark change this time, Axios White House reporter Marc Caputo says:
- Stability: After a first term plagued by uncertainty and turnover, one of his main objectives in his second term was keeping stability and continuity by installing trusted loyalists instead of GOP political mercenaries.
- Strength: Caving to public pressure amid a controversy is a sign of weakness, as Trump sees it. He doesn't want to reward Democratic and media opponents with a win.
- Confirmation: In a narrowly divided Senate — and with Republican moderates growing more emboldened to buck the president as the midterms approach — Trump doesn't want to create a new headache with a potential slog of a confirmation fight.
Zoom in: Besides Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have all taken turns getting pilloried during highly scrutinized controversies. Trump hasn't flinched.
- The furthest Trump has gone was removing Waltz from his national security adviser post last May after the Signalgate embarrassment, and nominating him to be UN ambassador.
- After Pretti was killed, Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino was reassigned rather than fired.
- The moves suggest that if Trump does come down on Noem — as some in Congress are demanding — she might find herself sidelined rather than ousted. Others in the administration have found that when Trump sours on them, they're not in the doghouse very long.
Reality check: The notoriously unpredictable president can always change his mind. So no one's job is ever truly safe.
- If Trump becomes convinced that Noem or anyone else is disloyal or grossly corrupt and criminally negligent, there could be an exit in the offing. There's no evidence Trump shares those beliefs about any of his appointees.
The bottom line: Trump's first administration was staffed with Republican operatives and other staffers with whom he didn't have a history.
- This time, he prioritized loyalty — and he's returning the favor.
