WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, five people familiar with internal White House discussions said.
Any potential reshuffling could serve as a reset for the White House as it confronts a politically challenging stretch: The five-week-old war has driven up gas prices, dragged down Trump’s approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the consequences for Republicans heading into November’s midterm elections.
Some allies said his televised speech to the nation on Wednesday – which one senior White House official described as an attempt to project a sense of control and confidence about the direction of the war – fell flat, adding to the sense that changes in messaging or personnel were needed.
“A shake-up to show action is not a bad thing, is it?” another White House official said.
Three White House officials and two other sources with knowledge of administration dynamics spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
The sources did not consistently describe any single cabinet member as certain to lose their job in the near term. But multiple officials are in some degree of danger, they said.
Several of the sources said Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among those potentially on the chopping block, after Trump ousted Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in recent weeks.
