Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel will “transition to a new role with the administration” after an oddly public rebuke from first lady Melania Trump, the White House confirmed Wednesday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement:
“Mira Ricardel will continue to support the President as she departs the White House to transition to a new role within the Administration. The President is grateful for Ms. Ricardel’s continued service to the American people and her steadfast pursuit of his national security priorities.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday on the spat between Ricardel and the first lady’s office, saying that President Donald Trump became involved “at the urging” of the first lady, “whose staff battled with Ms. Ricardel during the first lady’s trip to Africa last month over seating on the plane and requests to use National Security Council resources, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The first lady’s spokesperson then said in a statement that “It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she [Ricardel] no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.” Ricardel became National Security Adviser John Bolton’s deputy in May.
The New York Times went into more detail Tuesday on the bubbling-over tensions between Ricardel and the first lady’s office. Per the Times:
Ms. Ricardel had announced the [first lady’s trip to Africa] before it was fully planned, according to one of the people, and then threatened to pull resources for it after learning that she did not have a seat on Mrs. Trump’s plane. After the trip ended, Ms. Ricardel made accusations of inappropriate behavior by Mrs. Trump’s most trusted staff members, including Lindsay Reynolds, the first lady’s chief of staff — claims that a person close to the first lady said were false.
