Trump sacks many White House officials

United States President Donald Trump has sacked dozens of staff at the White House National Security Council (NSC).

Trump sacked the White House officials on Friday, May 23, 2025, as the president moved to slash the size and scope of the once-powerful body.

Staff dealing with most major geopolitical issues, from Ukraine to Kashmir, were terminated in the afternoon, said sources, who requested anonymity as they were not permitted to speak to the media.

The move came just weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio took over from Mike Waltz as national security adviser.

The NSC restructuring is expected to further reduce the agency’s influence, transforming it from a powerful policymaking body into a small organization focused more on implementing the president’s agenda than on shaping it, the sources told Reuters.

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In practice, the move is expected to grant more authority to the State Department, the Defense Department, and other departments and agencies involved in diplomacy, national security, and intelligence matters.

The administration’s aim is to reduce the size of the NSC to just a few dozen people.

Four sources with knowledge of the plans said they expect the final headcount at the NSC to come out to around 50 people.

The NSC is traditionally the main body used by presidents to coordinate national security strategy. Its staff often make key decisions regarding America’s approach to the world’s most volatile conflicts and play a key role in keeping America safe.

The body had more than 300 staffers under former President Joe Biden, but even before the recent firings under Trump was considerably less than half the size of Biden’s NSC.

The staffers who are cut from the agency will be moved to other positions in government, two of the sources added.

The Star