The war, five weeks ago, raised the price of gasoline, dropped Trump’s approval rating and increased Republican concern about the November elections
The President of the United States, Donald Trump is considering a broader change in the office afteras he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, said five people familiar with internal White House discussions.
Any potential shake-up could serve as a reset for the White House as it faces a politically challenging period: The five-week-old war has driven up gasoline prices, lowered Trump’s approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the fallout for Republicans preparing for November’s midterm elections.
Some allies said his televised address to the nation on Wednesday – which a senior White House official described as an attempt to project a sense of control and confidence over the direction of the war – didn’t pan out, increasing the feeling that changes in messaging or personnel were necessary.
“A move to show action isn’t a bad thing, is it?” said another White House official.
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.
Sources have not consistently described any cabinet member as certain to lose their job in the near term. But several employees are in some degree of danger, they said.
Several of the sources said Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among the possible candidates after Trump fired Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in recent weeks.
In recent months, Trump has expressed displeasure with Gabbard, a senior White House official said. Another source with direct knowledge of the matter said Trump asked allies what they thought of 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 new scrutiny in recent months for his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
New files released earlier this year revealed that Lutnick had lunch with Epstein on his private island in the Caribbean in 2012. Lutnick said he had “almost nothing to do” with Epstein and that the lunch only occurred because he was on a boat near the island.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that Trump maintains “complete confidence” in Gabbard and Lutnick.
“The President has assembled the most talented and impactful Cabinet ever, and collectively they have achieved historic victories on behalf of the American people, from Director Gabbard’s role in ending Maduro’s narco-terror regime to Secretary Lutnick’s role in securing major trade and investment deals,” Ingle wrote in an email when asked for comment.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence pointed Reuters to a Thursday White House post on X in which White House communications director Steve Cheung is quoted saying that Trump has “complete confidence” in Gabbard.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
*Reuters
