For weeks, there have been spotty reports that President Donald Trump is actively pursuing any disloyal members of his staff. And on Sunday, Axios reported that the president keeps a sort of hit list that has affected staffing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Among the names reported to be on the list is Jessie Liu, who was nominated for a Treasury Department role. Axios‘ reporting comes only days after a report from The Daily Beast stating that Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro is hunting for the anonymous inside-the-White House author of a New York Times editorial that was critical of the president.
During an interview with Fox News on Monday, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley seemed to confirm that reporting when he said, “The president’s been pretty clear about the fact that he wants people in this administration who want to forward his agenda.”
“Donald Trump was the only one elected. He was the only one that the American people voted for,” Gidley continued.
He added, “Time and time again, we see in the media reports from people in the bowels of the federal government working against this president.”
Asked if there are lists of enemies within the administration, Gidley responded, “If there are any lists, I have not seen them. But the fact is, we know there are people actively working against this president.”
Later, he doubled down, saying, “There are a lot of folks out there working against this president. If we find them, we’ll take appropriate action.”
See Gidley’s comments below:
White House spox Hogan Gidley essentially confirms Axios' reporting that Trump allies have assembled a "deep State' list of disloyal government officials:
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 24, 2020
"There are a lot of people out there working against this president. If we find them, we'll take appropriate action." pic.twitter.com/mBKTJBsGda
Trump’s White House has been in a constant state of turnover since he came into the Oval Office and many of his former top aides including Rex Tillerson, John Kelly, John Bolton and Anthony Scaramucci have become critical of Trump since they left the administration. Some of those aides, like Bolton and former White House communications staffer Chris Sims have even written tell-all books.