Donald Trump

=== Personnel ===
{{Main|Political appointments by Donald Trump|Cabinet of Donald Trump}}
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-12-28/trumps-white-house-has-highest-turnover-rate-in-40-years|title=Trump White House Has Highest Turnover in 40 Years|last=Trimble|first=Megan|date=December 28, 2017|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2018|7|pre=early}}, 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/395222-ap-trump-admin-sets-record-for-white-house-turnover|title=AP: Trump admin sets record for White House turnover|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=July 2, 2018|access-date=July 3, 2018|last=Wise|first=Justin}}</ref> and 141 staffers had left in the previous year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-white-house-sets-turnover-records-analysis-shows-n888396|title=Trump White House sets turnover records, analysis shows|work=[[NBC News]]|date=July 2, 2018|access-date=July 3, 2018|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> Both figures set a record for recent presidents&mdash;more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years.<ref name="Keith">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/07/591372397/white-house-staff-turnover-was-already-record-setting-then-more-advisers-left|title=White House Staff Turnover Was Already Record-Setting. Then More Advisers Left|last=Keith|first=Tamara|work=[[NPR]]|date=March 7, 2018|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Flynn (after just 25 days), and Press Secretary [[Sean Spicer]].<ref name="Keith" /> Close personal aides to Trump including Bannon, [[Hope Hicks]], [[John McEntee (political aide)|John McEntee]], and [[Keith Schiller]] quit or were forced out.<ref name=Brookings>{{cite web|first1=Kathryn Dunn|last1=Tenpas|first2=Elaine|last2=Kamarck|first3=Nicholas W.|last3=Zeppos|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/|title=Tracking Turnover in the Trump Administration|date=March 16, 2018|website=[[Brookings Institution]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Some later returned in different posts.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rogers|first1=Katie|last2=Karni|first2=Annie|author-link2=Annie Karni|title=Home Alone at the White House: A Sour President, With TV His Constant Companion|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/us/politics/coronavirus-trump.html|access-date=May 5, 2020|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 23, 2020}}</ref> Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cillizza|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Cillizza|title=Donald Trump makes terrible hires, according to Donald Trump|url=https://cnn.com/2020/06/19/politics/trump-mulvaney-bolton-hiring/|access-date=June 24, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 19, 2020}}</ref>

Trump had four [[White House chiefs of staff]], marginalizing or pushing out several.<ref name=Keither>{{cite web|last=Keith|first=Tamara|date=March 6, 2020|access-date=October 5, 2021|title=Mick Mulvaney Out, Mark Meadows in As White House Chief Of Staff|work=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/06/766025774/mick-mulvaney-out-as-white-house-chief-of-staff}}</ref> [[Reince Priebus]] was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general [[John F. Kelly]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/us/politics/reince-priebus-white-house-trump.html|title=Reince Priebus Pushed Out After Rocky Tenure as Trump Chief of Staff|first1=Peter|last1=Baker|author-link1=Peter Baker (journalist)|first2=Maggie|last2=Haberman|author-link2=Maggie Haberman|date=July 28, 2017|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fritze|first1=John|last2=Subramanian|first2=Courtney|last3=Collins|first3=Michael|date=September 4, 2020|access-date=October 6, 2021|title=Trump says former chief of staff Gen. John Kelly couldn't 'handle the pressure' of the job|work=[[USA Today]]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/04/trump-gen-john-kelly-couldnt-handle-pressure-chief-staff/5720974002/}}</ref> Kelly was succeeded by [[Mick Mulvaney]] as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by [[Mark Meadows]].<ref name=Keither />

On May 9, 2017, Trump [[Dismissal of James Comey|dismissed FBI director James Comey]]. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about [[Hillary Clinton email controversy#October 2016 – Additional investigation|Hillary Clinton's emails]], Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stanek|first=Becca|date=May 11, 2017|title=President Trump just completely contradicted the official White House account of the Comey firing|work=[[The Week]]|url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/698368/president-trump-just-completely-contradicted-official-white-house-account-comey-firing|access-date=May 11, 2017}}</ref> At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into Flynn.<ref name="cloud">{{cite web|last1=Schmidt|first1=Michael S.|author-link1=Michael S. Schmidt|last2=Apuzzo|first2=Matt|author-link2=Matt Apuzzo|date=June 7, 2017|title=Comey Says Trump Pressured Him to 'Lift the Cloud' of Inquiry|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/us/politics/james-comey-statement-testimony.html|access-date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.<ref name="cloud" /><ref>{{cite web|date=June 8, 2017|title=Statement for the Record Senate Select Committee on Intelligence James B. Comey|url=https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-060817.pdf|access-date=November 2, 2021|website=[[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]]|publisher=[[United States Government]]|page=7}}</ref>

Trump lost three of his 15 original cabinet members within his first year.<ref name="538 Cabinet">{{cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-incredibly-and-historically-unstable-first-year-of-trumps-cabinet/|title=The Incredibly And Historically Unstable First Year Of Trump's Cabinet|last=Jones-Rooy|first=Andrea|date=November 29, 2017|work=[[FiveThirtyEight]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Health and Human Services secretary [[Tom Price (American politician)|Tom Price]] was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft.<ref name="538 Cabinet"/><ref name=Brookings /> Environmental Protection Agency administrator [[Scott Pruitt]] resigned in 2018 and Secretary of the Interior [[Ryan Zinke]] in January 2019 amid multiple investigations into their conduct.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/594078923/scott-pruitt-out-at-epa|title=Scott Pruitt Out at EPA|work=[[NPR]]|date=July 5, 2018|access-date=July 5, 2018|first1=Rebecca|last1=Hersher|first2=Brett|last2=Neely}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-ryan-zinke-resigns-interior-secretary-20181215-story.html|title=Ryan Zinke resigns as interior secretary amid multiple investigations|first1=Juliet|last1=Eilperin|first2=Josh|last2=Dawsey|author-link2=Josh Dawsey|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 15, 2018|access-date=January 3, 2019}}</ref>

Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/10/12/557122200/trump-leaves-top-administration-positions-unfilled-says-hollow-government-by-des|title=Trump Leaves Top Administration Positions Unfilled, Says Hollow Government By Design|last=Keith|first=Tamara|date=October 12, 2017|work=[[NPR]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 8, 2019|access-date=October 6, 2021|title=Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/}}</ref>