A brief history of firings and resignations from Trump's White House
National security adviser John Bolton has become the latest staffer set to leave the White House. Here's a timeline of other notable exits from the Trump administration.
Intro
President Donald Trump on Tuesday forced out John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser with whom he had significant disagreements on Iran, Afghanistan and a cascade of other global challenges.
The move is the latest in a list of high-profile exits from the Trump administration. Here's a look at a selection of those departures.
Above: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Feb. 13, 2017: National security adviser Michael Flynn
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn arrives in the east Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, for a news conference with President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The embattled adviser resigned following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
May 9, 2017: FBI Director James Comey
FBI Director James Comey speaks in Washington on May 8, 2017. President Donald Trump fired Comey in May, saying the move would "mark a new beginning” for the FBI. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
May 30, 2017: Communications director Michael Dubke
White House communications director Michael Dubke walks out of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 30, 2017. CNN reported at the time that Dubke had been in the process of divesting from two communications firms at which he worked before joining the administration, and was nearing the point when he would have had to complete the process, CNN reported at the time. "Such a move would've likely meant a significant financial sacrifice to keep his West Wing job at a time when rumors were swirling that he was about to be fired anyway."
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
July 21, 2017: Press secretary Sean Spicer
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer walks down the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building towards the White House, Friday, July 21, 2017, in Washington. Spicer abruptly resigned his position, ending a rocky six-month tenure that made his news briefings defending President Donald Trump must-see TV. He said Trump's White House "could benefit from a clean slate." (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
July 28, 2017: Chief of staff Reince Priebus
White House Director of Social Media Dan Scavino, left, walks to a vehicle with former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus as they arrive Friday, July 28, 2017, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. After months of speculation about Priebus' fate, Trump tweeted the decision to fire Priebus as chief of staff and replace him with retired General John Kelly in July. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
July 31, 2017: Communications director Anthony Scaramucci
In this photo, White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci walks down the steps of Air Force One after arriving at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, for a speech by President Donald Trump on the street gang MS-13 on July 28, 2017. Scaramucci was out as White House communications director after just 11 days on the job. A person close to Scaramucci confirmed the staffing change just hours after President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, John Kelly, was sworn into office. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Aug. 18, 2017: Chief strategist Steve Bannon
In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2017, President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon arrives for a news conference with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Bannon, a forceful but divisive presence in President Donald Trump's White House, is leaving. Trump accepted Bannon's resignation in August, ending a turbulent seven months for his chief strategist. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Aug. 25, 2017: National security aide Sebastian Gorka
Former White House national security aide Sebastian Gorka talks with people in the Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington during a ceremony commemorating Israeli Independence Day on May 2, 2017. Gorka submitted his resignation to retired Gen. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff in August, saying it had become clear to Gorka that he would not be allowed to have a meaningful role going forward. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Sept. 29, 2017: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price speaks during a National Foundation for Infectious Diseases news conference Sept. 28, 2017 in Washington. Price resigned after his costly travel triggered investigations that overshadowed the administration's agenda and angered his boss. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Dec. 8, 2017: Deputy national security adviser Dina Powell
Former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell arrives for a joint statement between President Donald Trump and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien in the Rose Garden at the White House, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in Washington. Powell was one of the only top-level aides with experience working in a White House. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Dec. 13, 2017: Communications director for the White House Office of Public Liaison Omarosa Manigault Newman
Omarosa Manigault Newman smiles at reporters as she walks through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 13, 2016. Manigault Newman was an assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison until she left in December. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Feb. 7, 2018: Staff secretary Rob Porter
Former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, center, hands President Donald Trump a confirmation order for James Mattis as defense secretary, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. Porter stepped down following allegations of domestic abuse by his two ex-wives. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Feb. 27, 2018: Deputy communications director Josh Raffel
President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018. The White House announced in February that Josh Raffel would be leaving his role as deputy communications director sometime over the next two months.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Feb. 28, 2018: Communications director Hope Hicks
Former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump's most loyal aides, arrives to meet behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 27, 2018. Hicks was interviewed for nine hours by the panel investigating Russia interference in the 2016 election and contact between Trump's campaign and Russia. She resigned a day later. In a statement, the president praised Hicks for her work over the last three years. He says he "will miss having her by my side." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
March 6, 2018: Economic adviser Gary Cohn
White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn speaks to reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington on Jan. 23, 2018. Cohn decided to leave the White House after breaking with President Donald Trump on trade policy. Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, had been the leading internal opponent to Trump's planned tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
March 13, 2018: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson listens to a question during a news conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, March 9, 2018. Trump tweeted March 13 that he's naming CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
March 22, 2018: National security adviser H.R. McMaster
National security adviser H.R. McMaster waves as he walks into the West Wing of the White House in Washington on March 16, 2018. President Donald Trump announced on Twitter on March 22, 2018, that McMaster is being replaced by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
March 28, 2018: Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks during a House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing on veteran caregiver support on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 6, 2018. Trump announced via Twitter that he was firing Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and replacing him with White House physician Admiral Ronny L. Jackson in the wake of a bruising ethics scandal and a mounting rebellion within the VA. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Nov. 7, 2018: Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks to the media at the White House in Washington on March 27, 2017. Trump forced Sessions to resign Nov. 7, 2018, as the country's chief law enforcement officer after enduring more than a year of blistering and personal attacks from the president over his recusal from the Russia investigation. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Dec. 8, 2018: Chief of Staff John Kelly
Trump said Dec. 8, 2018, that Chief of Staff John Kelly would leave his job by the end of the year. The president announced Dec. 14 that budget director Mick Mulvaney would replace Kelly in the role. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Dec. 15, 2018: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is facing federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest, will leave the administration at the end of 2018, Trump tweeted Dec. 15. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Dec. 20, 2018: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation was revealed Dec. 20, 2018, after clashing with Trump over the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and after two years of deep disagreements over America's role in the world. In his resignation letter, Mattis alluded to disagreements with Trump as the reason for his departure. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)
April 7, 2019: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left, speaks with Border Patrol agents near a newly fortified border wall structure in Calexico, Calif., on Oct. 26, 2018. Nielsen had grown increasingly frustrated by what she saw as a lack of support from other departments and increased meddling by Trump aides, sources told The Associated Press. She went into a meeting with Trump at the White House on April 7 not knowing whether she'd be fired or would resign, they said. Trump announced that Nielsen would be resigning in a tweet after the meeting. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
June 13, 2019: Press secretary Sarah Sanders
Sarah Sanders left her job as White House press secretary at the end of June. Sanders is one of Trump's closest and most trusted White House aides and one of the few remaining who worked on his campaign, taking on the job of advocating for and defending a president who had his own unconventional ideas about how to conduct the people's business. Trump said he's encouraging her to run for governor when she returns home to Arkansas, where her father once held the job.
Above: President Donald Trump hugs outgoing press secretary Sarah Sanders during an event on second chance hiring in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Aug. 29, 2019: Assistant to the president and director of Oval Office operations Madeleine Westerhout
President Donald Trump says his secretary was dismissed after making indiscreet remarks about his children and saying things that "were just a little bit hurtful."
Trump says Westerhout's reported remarks that he didn't want to be photographed with daughter Tiffany are "just absolutely false." He adds: "I love Tiffany. Tiffany's a great person."
Sept. 10, 2019: National security adviser John Bolton
Trump forced out John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser with whom he had significant disagreements on Iran, Afghanistan and a cascade of other global challenges.
The two men offered opposing accounts on Bolton's less than friendly departure. Trump tweeted that he told Bolton Monday night his services were no longer needed at the White House and Bolton submitted his resignation Tuesday morning. Bolton responded in a tweet of his own that he offered to resign Monday "and President Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow.'"
Bolton was named Trump's third national security adviser in March 2018 after the departure of Army Gen. H.R. McMaster.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, effectively firing him.
The president tweeted Twitter that a new secretary of defense will be named soon. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will retire at the end of February.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan is withdrawing his nomination for the position, which has not been filled permanently since Gen. James Mattis retired in January.