Melania Trump: Why the first lady of the United States asked to fire Mira Ricardel, deputy minister of national security at the White House
In an unusual gesture, the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, on Tuesday called for the removal of a high-level national security official advising President Donald Trump.
"The Office of the First Lady believes that [Mira Ricardel] no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House," spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.
Ricardel has already left the White House to assume another position.
This was announced by President Trump's spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders.
"Mira Ricardel will continue to support the president by leaving the White House to assume a new role within the Administration," he said in a statement.
Melania Trump apparently collided with Ricardel, deputy national security counselor, during the first lady's official trip to Africa in October, according to US media.
Ricardel had been under John Bolton for seven months on the powerful National Security Council.
An earthquake in sight
Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
The knives are out in the White House.
Backstage machinations and backstabbing off the record are nothing new in this government. Virtually since Trump's inauguration, various factions have been fighting for political supremacy in the West Wing of the White House.
What is different now is that the office of First Lady Melania Trump decided to attack a White House staff member publicly and in no uncertain terms.
Presidents' wives have a long tradition of getting involved in White House personnel matters. Nancy Reagan, for example, had lawsuits with Chief of Staff Donald Regan.
Hillary Clinton also fought with some frequency with White House aides.
But they are situations that are not usually made public.
After the midterm elections, the situation in the Trump White House appears to be reaching a critical point.
The biggest confrontation appears to be between two key centers of power: Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Everything else, including the situation with the first lady, stems from there.
It is a situation that seems difficult to sustain. These are the small tremors from a nearby personnel earthquake.
Various reasons
According to US media, the first lady and Ricardel collided during the first official trip of the first lady to Africa last month. Among other things, it is said that they fought over the distribution of seats on the plane.
On that trip, Melania Trump told ABC channel in a rare interview that there are people in the White House that she does not trust.
The first lady said that she gives advice and her frank opinion to the president and, from there, "he does what he wants."
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Melania Trump's team believes that Ricardel is behind some of the "negative stories" that have circulated about the first lady and her staff.
The newspaper also noted that the first lady repeatedly clashed with US Defense Secretary James Mattis over "personnel decisions and differences over political measures."
Trump's statement, released by her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, came hours after she issued another statement in which she denied that the first lady has differences with John Kelly.
"Mrs. Trump has a very positive relationship with Chief Kelly and there have never been any problems between them," Grisham said.
As the news broke, Donald Trump shared a photo on Twitter of Mira Ricardel accompanying him at a Diwali ceremony.
Long experience
Bolton hired Ricardel while she was working at the Commerce Department.
The deputy counselor has decades of experience working in the United States government.
She previously worked in the Department of Defense during the presidency of George W. Bush as well as with Republican Senator Bob Dole when she was the majority leader in the Senate.
* This note was originally published on November 13, 2018 and was updated with the news of Mira Ricardel's departure from the White House.
