President Donald Trump’s longtime personal aide John McEntee is out at the White House, marking yet another departure in an executive office marked by a revolving door of hirings and firings.
CNN reported that McEntee was fired because he is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes, and that he still had not received security clearance for his work. NBC has not confirmed that report.
He will take a job with Trump’s re-election campaign, the campaign said Tuesday morning in a release.
McEntee was by Trump’s side during the 2016 campaign and during the president’s first year at the White House, but struggled to get the necessary security clearances for this role. As of November, McEntee was working with interim security clearances.
“We’re not going to comment on a personnel issue,” a senior White House official told NBC News about McEntee’s changing jobs.
McEntee was one of the president’s longest lasting aides and present for some of Trump’s biggest moments this year, including last week’s surprise announcement of forthcoming talks with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.