WASHINGTON(National Times)- US President Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, five people familiar with internal White House discussions said.
Any potential reshuffling could serve as a reset for the White House as it confronts a politically challenging stretch: The five-week-old war has driven up gas prices, dragged down Trump’s approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the consequences for Republicans heading into November’s midterm elections.
Some allies said his televised speech, which one senior White House official described as an attempt to project a sense of control and confidence about the direction of the war, fell flat, adding to the sense that changes in messaging or personnel were needed.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick among those potentially on ‘the chopping block’
“A shake-up to show action is not a bad thing, is it?” another White House official said.
Three White House officials and two other sources with knowledge of administration dynamics spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
The sources did not consistently describe any single cabinet member as certain to lose their job in the near term, but multiple officials are in some degree of danger, they said.
‘On the chopping block’
Several of the sources said Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among those potentially on the chopping block, after Trump ousted Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in recent weeks.
Trump has in recent months expressed displeasure with Gabbard, said one senior White House official.
Another source with direct knowledge of the matter said Trump had asked allies about their thoughts on potential replacements for his intelligence chief.
Some high-profile Trump allies, meanwhile, are privately pushing for the removal of Lutnick, a close personal friend of the president who has faced renewed scrutiny in recent months for his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
New files released earlier in the year revealed that Lutnick had lunch with Epstein on his private island in the Caribbean in 2012. Lutnick has said he “barely had anything to do with” Epstein and that the lunch took place only because he was on a boat near the island.
However, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump maintained “total confidence” in Gabbard and Lutnick.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence pointed Reuters to a Thursday post by the White House on X in which White House communications director Steve Cheung is quoted as saying Trump has “total confidence” in Gabbard.
Trump worked with his speechwriting team and top advisers on this week’s prime-time address, one official said, after aides had urged him for weeks to speak directly to the nation about the US’ role in Iran. “Voters tolerate ideological messaging, but they feel fuel prices immediately,” the official said. Just 36 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s overall job performance, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey, the lowest figure of his current term. The war with Iran is particularly unpopular, with 60pc of respondents disapproving of the US-Israeli decision to start the conflict.
