U.S. President Donald Trump sits while U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stands by his side, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Ten and one-half months after returning to the White House, Donald Trump hasn't had nearly as many conflicts with administration officials and appointees as he did during his first presidency. Trump, this time, has made a point of picking MAGA loyalists who are unlikely to question him — unlike all the traditional conservatives he fired or forced out when he was in the White House before, from a secretary of state (Rex Tillerson) to two U.S. attorneys general (Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr) to a national security adviser (John Bolton) to a White House chief of staff (John F. Kelly).
But according to Salon's Heather Digby Parton, Trump may have some firings in mind for 2026.
"Staffing of the White House during the president's first term was famously a constant state of chaos; the list of resignations and dismissals was a mile long," Parton explains in an article published on December 11. "But as before, Trump rarely faced the people he was firing. FBI Director James Comey — whom Trump is currently attempting to put in prison — learned of his termination in May 2017 while watching cable news on a business trip to California. Trump never spoke to Comey personally, but he did order that the former director couldn't travel back to Washington, D.C. on the FBI plane, forcing Comey to take a commercial flight."
Parton continues, "Rex Tillerson, Trump's first secretary of state, was informed that he was fired while in the bathroom. In 2017, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was given the duty of firing Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, adviser Steve Bannon and dozens of others, before being pushed out himself in December 2018. The president's second term has been different."
For his second presidency, Parton notes, Trump has chosen an "insufferable crowd of MAGA influencers, Fox News toadies and hardcore loyalists that have proved themselves to him over the course of the previous decade in the trenches." And many of them have been "egregiously unqualified."
"So far, this new approach has resulted in very little turnover," Parton observes. "There have been a couple of instances where someone hasn't worked out. But instead of firing them, he has taken to promoting people to different jobs…. But as we approach the first anniversary of Trump's second inauguration, rumblings of impending personnel changes are growing louder."
The Salon reporter continues, "Most are centered on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has produced the most scandals of any Trump appointee…. Last week, The Bulwark broke the story, since confirmed by other outlets, that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is also on the chopping block…. Finally, there's FBI Director Kash Patel, who seems to spend most of his time jetting around on the FBI plane with his country-singer girlfriend."
Heather Digby Parton's full article for Salon is available at this link.