3/13/2018

CAMPAIGN/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was escorted out of the White House on Monday [3-12-18], two senior administration officials said. The cause of the firing was an unspecified security issue, said a third White House official with knowledge of the situation.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment saying, ‘We don’t comment on personnel issues.’ Mr. McEntee didn’t return a call seeking comment.
Tuesday morning, the Trump presidential campaign issued a statement saying that Mr. McEntee will join the 2020 effort as a senior adviser for campaign operations.
Mr. McEntee was one of the longest-serving aides to Mr. Trump, dating back to the earliest days of the campaign when some of the only aides around the then-candidate included Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser; Stephen Miller, the president’s policy director; White House communications director Hope Hicks, who announced her resignation two weeks ago; and Dan Scavino, who is the White House director of social media…
Mr. McEntee wasn’t as well known as the others, but had been a constant presence at Mr. Trump’s side for the past three years… Mr. McEntee was removed from the White House grounds on Monday afternoon without being allowed to collect his belongings, a White House official said. He left without his jacket, a second White House official said.
It wasn’t clear exactly why Mr. McEntee was fired Monday. He indicated to colleagues that it was an issue in his background.”

-Michael C. Bender, “Trump’s Personal Assistant Is Fired,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 13, 2018 09:19am