(The Hill) — President Donald announced the firing of four high-profile presidential appointees just after midnight Tuesday, including a top envoy to Iran during his first term and retired Gen. Mark Milley, who Trump tapped as Joint Chiefs chairman in 2018.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that fired celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former special envoy for Iran Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, from the President’s Export Council.
“Our first day in the White House is not over yet! My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again,” Trump posted on Truth Social just past midnight Tuesday.
“Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon,” Trump said before listing off the four officials in the post that ended with “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was given a preemptive pardon by former President Joe Biden in the 11th hour of his presidency. Milley has at times forcefully criticized Trump, and Trump has suggested he should be court-martialed and executed.
The retired general’s portrait at the Pentagon, hung in the Joint Chiefs hallway, was taken down on Monday less than two weeks after it was put up.
Hook, who served under former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during Trump’s first term in the White House, was an Iran hawk who supported sanctions the Trump administration imposed on Iran.
Lance Bottoms was a senior adviser on Biden’s re-election campaign, after deciding against running for a second term as Atlanta’s mayor.
Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, has questioned whether Trump can carry out his ambitious deportation plans, and seems to be considering a future in politics himself.
In a flurry of executive orders Trump signed on Monday, he also ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week.
