Which apprentice is ‘fired’ next from Trump’s Cabinet?

Let’s face it. President Trump, at heart, is a reality TV star. He turned his proclivity for firing up-and-coming young professionals into a hit show, “The Apprentice.” His lack of empathy for the terminated apprentices, it turned out, presaged his performance in the Oval Office. 

Trump is not good at and has never accepted the mourner-in-chief role performed by President Bill Clinton, with his raspy voice and quivering lower lip. Quite the opposite. Trump’s crude and cruel social media post in the hours following the gruesome murder of Rob Reiner and his wife — allegedly and tragically by their own son — calls into question Trump’s own emotional stability.

In recent weeks, Trump has fired two high profile cabinet members. Both were highly accomplished women. 

Kristi Noem, a former member of Congress and governor of South Dakota, struck me as more interested in her public image than in actually managing the behemoth of the Department of Homeland Security. The massive department seemed like a good idea when former Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) teamed up to combine all agencies of the federal government that could make the homeland safe following the Sept. 11 2001, attack.

Noem would have benefited greatly from spending more time at her desk in Washington and less time chasing photo ops around the country and throughout Latin America. She got bad political advice.

Pam Bondi was the respected and twice-elected former attorney general of Florida. Trump turned to Bondi when his inexplicable first choice, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) wisely withdrew his nomination, considering his own legal problems. Bondi, unfortunately, displayed foot-in-mouth disease from the start, declaring that the Epstein files client list was on her desk. Trump’s MAGA base was hungering to destroy Democrats on the list. As far as we know, no such list exists.

Trump was counting on Bondi to carry out his revenge campaign. It was Trump, not Bondi, who wanted former FBI Director James Comey indicted. It was Trump, not Bondi, who wanted New York State Attorney General Letitia James indicted. The fact that a federal judge dismissed both indictments demonstrates the weakness of Trump’s case.

Bondi tried to do what Trump wanted. The fact that Trump’s desire failed is a testament to the strength of our legal system. It is also a resounding indictment of Trump’s style of government by ego rather than constitutional principles.

Others may soon be fired from the Trump cabinet. Perhaps that is why Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spend time on Fox News singing unfettered praises of the president. 

Regardless of how many times Trump reenacts “The Apprentice” with his Cabinet appointees, Americans know this: The problem is not who Trump has appointed. The problem is Trump. He does not prepare, he does not listen, he acts like he is always the smartest person in the room and he talks incessantly, often hanging himself on his own words from two days earlier. Trump never takes responsibility for anything that goes wrong. That is a trait very unbecoming in any national leader.

The president continues to ignore hard working Americans’ concern about the economy in general and the cost of living specifically. A March 23 Fox News poll showed the president’s net approval rating minus-18 points. In the same survey, 60 percent said the White House is out of touch with their daily life.

For my fellow Republicans, the coming midterms are likely to be somewhere between bad and really, really bad. One person is responsible for that, and his name is Trump.

The House is gone. There is a reason 17 percent of House Republicans are not running for reelection. The Republican Senate is also teetering. Republicans will be very lucky if, in 2027, the vice president is in a position to break a tie Senate vote.

You can bet on that if you want to. I do not.

Kevin Igoe is the former deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee and former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. He served as chief of staff of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management and was a Reagan White House appointee.

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