President Trump announced the firing of four high-profile presidential appointees just after midnight Tuesday, including a top envoy to Iran during his first term, Brian Hook, and retired Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump tapped as Joint Chiefs chair in 2018.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that fired Hook from the Wilson Center; Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council; celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition; and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, from the President’s Export Council.
“Our first day in the White House is not over yet! My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again,” Trump posted on Truth Social just past midnight Tuesday.
“Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon,” Trump said before listing off the four officials in the post that ended with “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was given a preemptive pardon by former President Biden in the final hours of his presidency. Milley has at times forcefully criticized Trump, and Trump has suggested he should be court-martialed and executed.
The retired general’s portrait at the Pentagon, hung in the Joint Chiefs hallway, was taken down Monday less than two weeks after it was put up.
Hook, who served under former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during Trump’s first term, was an Iran hawk who supported sanctions the Trump administration imposed on Iran.
Bottoms was a senior adviser on Biden’s reelection campaign, after deciding against running for a second term as Atlanta’s mayor.
The former mayor said on Tuesday she had already left the position, having submitted her resignation letter on Jan. 4 this year.
“I do hope that his attention to detail will be much more keen when it comes to world affairs. There are real issues that need attention across the globe,” Bottoms wrote Tuesday on Instagram.
Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, has questioned whether Trump can carry out his ambitious deportation plans, and seems to be considering a future in politics himself.
The celebrity chef said he submitted his resignation from the post last week and that his term was already up. He elaborated that he was “honored” to work as the co-chair and asked Trump to allow the council to continue its work.
“I’m proud of what we accomplished on behalf of the American people…like a historic partnership between the White House and every major sports league to increase access to sports and health programs for kids,” Andrés said in a Tuesday morning post on X.
“I hope @realdonaldtrump exercises his presidential authority so the Council can continue to advocate for fitness and good health for all Americans,” he added. “These are bipartisan issues…nonpartisan issues.”
“May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name calling aside…and instead lift up the everyday people working to bring America together. Let’s build longer tables.”
In a flurry of executive orders Trump signed Monday, he also ordered federal workers return to the office five days a week.
Updated at 2:51 p.m. EST
