--- title: Not All of Donald Trump's White House Firings Are Equal description: President Donald Trump's firings keep making the news, but not all of them are created equal. canonical: https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-20T18:58:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:42:42.993Z article:section: Politics og:title: Not All of President Trump's Firings Are Created Equal og:description: A certain amount of White House churn is inevitable og:url: https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Not All of President Trump's Firings Are Created Equal twitter:description: A certain amount of White House churn is inevitable twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Not All of President Trump's Firings Are Created Equal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 20, 2018 6:58 PM UTC  US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses during a briefing at the Department of State on August 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses during a briefing at the Department of State on August 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 20, 2018 6:58 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s firings keep making the news, but not all of them are created equal. In recent days, the president has [fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/) and [longtime personal assistant John McEntee](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/13/trumps-personal-assistant-john-mcentee-fired-white-house/420840002/), crowed over the [firing of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe](http://time.com/5204181/donald-trump-andrew-mccabe-fbi-firing/), [reportedly considered firing](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/us/politics/trump-lawyers-mueller-russia-investigation.html) a member of his legal team, sparked [renewed concern that he may fire special counsel Robert Mueller](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/politics/paul-ryan-assurances-mueller-not-fired/index.html) and reportedly mused about [firing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-angry-chief-staff-kelly-musing-about-possible-replacements-n846366), and [National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/2018/03/15/fea2ebae-285c-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.616bb9471f64), among others. Adding in a number of resignations over his first year, the Trump White House has had a staff turnover rate roughly three times that of President Obama in his first year in office, and twice that of President Reagan, according to [a study by the Brookings Institution](https://www.brookings.edu/research/why-is-trumps-staff-turnover-higher-than-the-5-most-recent-presidents/). The firings have even led [online prediction markets](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/16/who-will-trump-fire-next-betting-sites-get-action/bYBmszlPL3kNzBWcERmhwJ/story.html) to begin forecasting which member of the Trump Administration will leave next. But the staff departures — including both firings and resignations — have very different reasons behind them. A certain amount of White House churn is inevitable due to the high-stress environment staffers face. The departures of Press Secretary [Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4868903/sarah-huckabee-sanders-spicer-press-secretary/), White House Chief of Staff [Reince Priebus](http://time.com/4879260/donald-trump-reince-priebus-john-kelly/) and Communications Director [Hope Hicks](http://time.com/5180300/hope-hicks-resigning-donald-trump/) are the kinds of things that would be commonplace in another administration. Some members of the Trump White House have left or been forced out because they disagree on policy. Deputy Attorney General [Sally Yates was fired](http://time.com/4654665/president-trump-sally-yates-immigration-order/) for refusing to defend the first version of the travel ban. Economic advisor [Gary Cohn resigned](http://time.com/5188746/gary-cohn-donald-trump-resignation/) over Trump’s plan to implement steel and aluminum tariffs. And [Tillerson was fired](http://time.com/5197365/rex-tillerson-fired-timeline/) after clashing with Trump too many times. Other staffers have left under a cloud of scandal. Health and Human Services Secretary [Tom Price resigned](http://time.com/4963637/tom-price-health-secretary-donald-trump-private-jet/) amid criticism of his extensive use of taxpayer-funded charter flights. CDC Director [Brenda Fitzgerald resigned](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/31/cdc-director-resigns-fitzgerald-azar-380680) after reports she had traded in tobacco stocks while leading the agency. And staff secretary [Rob Porter resigned](http://time.com/5159853/rob-porter-scandal-exposed-white-house-security-risks/) after accusations of domestic violence surfaced. In some cases, the firing itself has become a scandal. Trump’s decision to [fire FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4775430/the-comey-misfire/) started a series of events that led to the appointment of a special counsel, and the firing of McCabe just before his scheduled retirement has raised questions about the president’s involvement. For his part, Trump [appears to be untroubled by the staff turnover](http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-everyone-wants-to-work-in-white-house-2018-3), saying recently that he views a certain amount of conflict to be helpful as he makes decisions and that he can find replacements because “everybody wants to work in the White House.” “They all want a piece of that Oval Office, they want a piece of the West Wing,” he said. “It’s tough. I like conflict, I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that. And then I make a decision. But I like watching it, I like seeing it, and I think it’s the best way to go.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/"},"headline":"Not All of President Trump's Firings Are Created Equal","datePublished":"2018-03-20T18:58:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:42:42.993Z","description":"A certain amount of White House churn is inevitable due to the high-stress environment staffers face","url":"https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT","caption":"US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses during a briefing at the Department of State on August 22, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5207536/donald-trump-firings/","name":"Not All of President Trump's Firings Are Created Equal"}}]}] ```