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Mira Ricardel reportedly clashed with the First Lady during Africa trip last month
It may be the end of the road for Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel’s career at the White House, as there was speculation on Tuesday that she had been told to go by U.S. President Donald Trump, following a clash with First Lady Melania Trump. While there were conflicting media reports on Tuesday as to whether Ms. Ricardel, who appeared with Mr. Trump at the White House Deepavali ceremony on Tuesday, had already ceased working, officials confirmed late in the afternoon that she was still on the rolls.
It is expected that she will be asked to clear her desk soon.
‘Not deserving’
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House,” Ms. Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement on Tuesday. Ms. Trump had, reports said, clashed with Ms. Ricardel during her Africa trip last month, over seating arrangements on the First Lady’s aircraft and National Security Council resources for the trip. The move by her office is an unprecedented intervention by Ms. Trump, who, like other First Ladies, tends to stay away from staffing battles at the White House. Ms. Ricardel, a protégé of National Security Adviser John Bolton, has had run-ins with Chief of Staff John Kelly and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis. She is the third to join a list of imminent departures from the White House; Mr. Kelly and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen are also on that list.
