US President Donald Trump’s administration, in the middle of total chaos due to leak of information and a barrage of resignations over the course of a month, added another name to its long list — senior White House adviser Sebastian Gorka.
“Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House,” Reuters quoted a White House official saying. The official did not elaborate, but the statement suggested that Gorka had been fired.
Gorka, who frequently appeared on cable news shows to tout Trump’s policies, was seen to be a divisive figure within the administration by veteran intelligence professionals and diplomats as an ideologue with little real-world experience. He is the latest in a string of hawkish or nationalist advisers to leave the National Security Council and other parts of the White House in recent weeks, suggesting that in the battle among Trump’s foreign policy advisers, internationalist voices such as those of McMaster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are prevailing.
According to The Federalist, a conservative news outlet, the Deputy Assistant to the President in his resignation letter said, “Given recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are – for now – ascendant within the White House, as a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People’s House.”
Unhappy with the recent Afghanistan strategy unveiled by the President calling for continuing the deployment of American Troops on Afghan soil, Gorka went on to add, “Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again,’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months. This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week. The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost.”
Expressing his strong belief in the Trump presidency, Gorka in his letter has also written, “Your presidency will prove to be one of the most significant events in modern American politics. November the 8th was the result of decades during which the political and media elites felt that they knew better than the people who elect them into office. They do not, and the MAGA platform allowed their voices to be heard,” he wrote, adding, “Millions of people believe in, and have chosen, you and your vision of Making America Great Again. They will help eventually re-balance this temporary reality.”
Gorka’s departure from the White House comes just a week after the ouster of chief strategist Steve Bannon preceded by appointment of his new Chief of Staff John Kelly. Gorka had worked on issues related to counter terrorism, Qatar crisis, designing new security strategy for US. The resignation comes just on the brink of Trump threatening new trade barriers on China. Gorka, during his period in the White House, had also focused on combating China’s economic warfare.
