ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/MELANIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump insisted Thursday [11-15-18] that despite a recent flurry of high-level reshuffling inside his administration, with more reportedly on the way, his White House ‘is running very smoothly.’ The media, Trump said, had overhyped personnel moves, which have included the removal of Jeff Sessions as attorney general and the reassignment of deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel…Administration turnover is common in the wake of midterm elections, but the churn in the Trump White House is at record levels less than two years into his first term. Less than 24 hours after Election Day, Trump fired Sessions, replacing him on an acting basis with Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, a move that critics have called legally and ethically questionable. And on Tuesday [11-13-18], first lady Melania Trump took the unusual step of publicly announcing her opposition to Ricardel. Ricardel was removed from her post Wednesday and is expected to be reassigned elsewhere in the administration.”
–Caitlin Oprysko, “Despite staffing turmoil, Trump promises White House ‘running very smoothly’,” Politico, November 15, 2018 8:28 am