President Donald Trump wants America to know that his plans to remove government officials deemed insufficiently loyal to him is actually for the country’s own good.
When a reporter asked Trump about the purge during a press conference in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, the President initially downplayed the number of people he felt deserved to be kicked out.
“I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Trump said. “I don’t think it’s very many people.”
He brought up the “very sad situation” with the “fake” whistleblower who reported Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which exposed Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine and led to his impeachment.
Trump indicated that the point of planned expulsions is to prevent future whistleblowers.
“We want to have people that are good for the country, are loyal to our country because that was a disgraceful situation,” he said.
Axios reported last Friday that Johnny McEntee, Trump’s former body man who now leads Trump’s presidential personnel office, instructed agencies to root out officials who appeared to be “anti-Trump.” Axios later reported on Sunday that the White House had been compiling a list over the past 18 months that consisted of officials to be removed.
Watch the President below:
Trump defends purging "disloyal" people from his administration: "We want to have people that are good for the country, are loyal to the country." pic.twitter.com/DnfSKZsypO
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 25, 2020
