First Lady Melania Trump and her office put out a public statement declaring that when it comes to National Security Counsel, Mira Ricardel, they believe that she "no longer deserves the honor of serving in the White House". This is the first time in history that a First Lady has vocally and publically ousted a member of the White House.
Rumor has it that, this feud escalated last month after Ricardel demanded that Melania's office make seats available on their aircraft for NSC staff members onboard Melania's 1st solo trip to Africa. Apparently that did not fly with Melania (pun intended). Sources say Melania felt that Ricardel tried to "short change her in terms of U.S. Government resources being allocated to support her Africa trip.
Now who is Mira Ricardel? She is the 2nd highest ranking official in the National Security administration. She was hand picked by John Bolton, National Security Advisor. She's served in three administrations and held a variety of roles in different government agencies, including in the Commerce, State and Defense departments. Her high-profile roles in Washington go back to a stint at the State Department in the 1980s and later as a legislative assistant for Republicans in the Senate. Ricardel also worked on Sen. Bob Dole's failed presidential campaign in 1996.
What's interesting about this latest move by Melania and her office is that roughly over a month prior to this public statement, right around the time of the First Lady's Africa trip, she did an interview with ABC where she was asked a question about whether she was the "gatekeeper" and if President Trump listened to her advice on who he can trust or not and she gave a very interesting answer that now makes a lot of sense now after this latest public ousting...watch for a refresher. Hmmm...
One thing to take away from this: don't mess with Melania! It seems people have underestimated her and her power and she is proving here that she does have power and not to test her! Up next? General Kelly. It seems he might be next on the chopping block...time will tell.
-Producer Lightning