MELANIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump said Thursday [10-11-18] that he will ‘weed out’ individuals inside his administration who he does not like, echoing remarks from his wife, who told ABC News that there are people working for her husband who she does not trust. During a live phone interview Thursday morning with Fox News’ ‘Fox & Friends,’ the president said ‘it was more true’ in the past, when he was first establishing himself in Washington, that he distrusted members of his administration. But he cited U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation this week, as an example of the ‘great people’ who now fill his administration…Trump also identified Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as ‘a star’ of his administration, specifically highlighting his negotiations with North Korea. Trump unceremoniously fired Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson, last spring amid reportedly simmering tensions between Trump and Tillerson and rumors Tillerson had called the president a ‘f—— moron.’ Still, the president said there are some he would prefer to see leave the administration, though he did not offer any names.”
–Matthew Choi, “Trump pledges to ‘weed out’ administration officials he does not trust,” Politico, October 11, 2018 9:50 am