In July 2017, Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst took a photograph of members of the Trump presidential campaign and administration, one that the New Yorker described as iconic.
This one photo explains job stability in Trumpworld
Everyone in this photograph has left the Trump White House — or is on their way out.
Taken outside of a veterans event in Ohio, the picture features former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, White House advisers Sebastian Gorka and Omarosa Manigault, communications director Anthony Scaramucci, and White House staff secretary Rob Porter.
Seven months later, every single person in this photograph is no longer associated with the White House or the Trump campaign.
The last to go was Porter, who resigned from his position following allegations of physical and emotional abuse made by his ex-wives. Despite lacking a security clearance because of a protective order issued in 2010, Porter had risen to a position in which he worked closely with Chief of Staff John Kelly to vet and decide what was sent to the president’s desk. The White House has continued to reiterate that President Trump and Kelly have “full confidence” in Porter’s abilities.
Lewandowski was fired from the Trump campaign in June 2016 after an alleged “power struggle” with then-chief strategist Paul Manafort (who exited the campaign months later amid an active FBI investigation into his political consulting business).
Gorka served as deputy assistant to the president until August of 2017, when he either resigned (which is what he told Fox & Friends) or was forced out (and barred from White House grounds).
Manigault, formerly communications director for the White House’s Office of Public Liaison, resigned in December and, according to the Daily Beast, was ultimately escorted away from White House grounds.
And Scaramucci served as White House communications director for 10 days before being dismissed by the president.
The White House has also lost Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell and Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn. And other current White House staffers, including National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Kelly, are rumored to be exiting as well.
Trump’s hiring practices continue to be yet another deeply concerning storyline of his administration. Despite a rapidly improving economy and better poll numbers, it seems that few people want to stay in this White House, and past hires are resigning or being forced out at a rapid rate.
