Trump threatens Samsung Apple with more tariffs
President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on mobile phones made by Apple and other companies in other countries by the end of June.
WASHINGTON – A significant number of staff on the White House National Security Council were rejected from their position on May 23rd, as the Trump administration undertook a massive restructuring of its institutions.
The shootings reported by the Washington Post, Reuters and other media came three weeks after President Donald Trump pushed out former national security adviser Mike Waltz and made Secretary of State Marco Rubio the interim head of the NSC.
Staff who deal with a wide range of geopolitical circumstances are expected to receive termination notices as part of the NSC restructuring, giving more authority to the state and defense departments.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
CNN reported that more than 100 NSC employees received notifications around 4:20 PM ET, notifying them that they would take administrative leave and give 30 minutes to clean the desk. Workers represent a significant share of the NSC’s overall workforce, growing to around 300 workers under President Joe Biden, but were already operating under Trump by less than half that figure.
Axios cited an unknown White House official who said, “The NSC is the ultimate deep state. It’s Marco vs. Deep State. We are thwarting the deep state.”
The Trump administration has terminated tens of thousands of employees across the federal government and forced further voluntary takeovers as part of the government’s efficiency launched by Elon Musk.
The restructuring comes after Trump in April fired several senior NSC officials who flagged Trump as dishonest during a White House visit to the country. Rumer also raised concerns about Waltz, who was appointed US ambassador to the United Nations after Waltz resigned as national security adviser.
Contribution: Reuters.
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
