Shake-up angst at the White House: who is at risk?

{"text":[[{"start":7.32,"text":"Donald Trump’s battering in the US midterm elections has left his administration reeling and put the future of some top White House officials and cabinet members in question."}],[{"start":17.56,"text":"In the Oval Office on Thursday Trump repeated that Republicans would have won in a “landslide” if his name had been on the ballots, blaming Democratic wins for the day’s decline in US equity markets while wearing a red cap emblazoned with the word “VETO”."}],[{"start":32.56,"text":"It is unclear how the president will apportion blame for the debacle — some officials could be fired, others may decide to jump ship and some will stay on — but a shake-up is on the cards."}],[{"start":43.28,"text":"Here are the most exposed figures in Trump’s government."}],[{"start":43.78,"text":"Pete Hegseth"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":48.066,"text":"The US defence secretary has been the face of the hugely unpopular Iran war, which was a key factor in the defeat for Republicans."}],[{"start":54.92,"text":"Hegseth, a former Fox News host, was a controversial pick for the role. He has hollowed out the top ranks of the military, expelled media from the Pentagon and sought to bring “anti-woke” bravado to the armed forces."}],[{"start":68.08,"text":"But his overhaul of the defence department alienated many on Capitol Hill, including members of his own Republican Party, and his cheerleading of the Middle Eastern conflict could well backfire."}],[{"start":79.2,"text":"Just a few months ago Hegseth visited Iowa, triggering speculation that he might try to run for president in 2028. He may well now end up as the scapegoat for the party’s midterm drubbing. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (Centcom), may also come under pressure due to the fallout from the war."}],[{"start":100.92,"text":"On Thursday, Trump told ABC he had “every intention” of keeping Hegseth in place but acknowledged he was being urged to replace him. “I get these calls, you know, about him. I don’t understand why,” Trump said."}],[{"start":110.64,"text":"Meanwhile, Hegseth released a defiant video on social media in defence of his tenure. “You see, they attack me — they attack us — because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” he said. The Iran war, Hegseth added, was a “courageous and historic effort”."}],[{"start":128.72,"text":"If he remains at the helm, Hegseth could face impeachment proceedings from the future Democratic majority in the House of Representatives."}],[{"start":129.22,"text":"Susie Wiles"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":136.08,"text":"The White House chief of staff was the architect of Trump’s political comeback in 2024 and was expected to bring some discipline and order to his second term."}],[{"start":146.48,"text":"Early on, Wiles marshalled the administration as it sought to implement many of Trump’s policies, from trade to immigration, and avoided the fate of her first-term predecessors who only managed short stints in the post."}],[{"start":158.64,"text":"But by this year, Wiles appeared to have lost control. Trump waged the Iran war with poor messaging to the public; he alienated Congress by failing to consult with its members; and she was unable to steer him to adequately address the conflict’s implications for inflation."}],[{"start":172.88,"text":"Meanwhile, Trump focused enormous amounts of time and energy on his projects to remake Washington, which were far from the priorities of Americans struggling with an affordability crisis. And Wiles was unable to stop the perception that Trump, his family and his allies were enriching themselves at the expense of the public."}],[{"start":190.68,"text":"Last month, she was in the spotlight when the FT reported that her daughter, Katie Wiles, was working for a US lobbying firm that signed a $35,000-a-month contract to represent Republika Srpska, the Balkan entity that is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A White House official said Susie Wiles did not discuss work matters with her daughters."}],[{"start":210.92,"text":"Trump defended Wiles before the election, but Caroline Sunshine, a former aide during his first term, told Fox News this week that Wiles should step down. “She needs to offer her resignation to the president before he has to ask for it. Her campaign skills have not translated into governing,” she said."}],[{"start":211.42,"text":"JD Vance"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":228.172,"text":"Vance’s status as Trump’s political heir apparent and the automatic frontrunner for the 2028 presidential nomination has been called into question after the Republicans’ midterm election rout."}],[{"start":238.2,"text":"The vice-president’s own campaigning did little to help the party. His full-throated support for a controversial attack ad released by Vivek Ramaswamy, the losing Republican candidate for Ohio governor, backfired in the face of a widespread backlash."}],[{"start":253.68,"text":"“A good bit of the lustre has come off the bloom,” Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and a top Trump supporter, said of Vance on X."}],[{"start":262.345,"text":"Vance quickly distanced himself from the president when the scale of the midterm defeat became clear. “The reason we lost is the war,” he said in a striking statement on Wednesday that publicly blamed the president’s top national security priority for the electoral drubbing."}],[{"start":278.2,"text":"“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth it, then do so . . . [but] any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”"}],[{"start":278.7,"text":"Marco Rubio"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":292.079,"text":"The US secretary of state and former Florida senator has been Trump’s most dependable aide on foreign policy, serving as national security adviser at the White House on top of being America’s top diplomat."}],[{"start":304.32,"text":"Although he spent some time on the midterm campaign trail with Trump and is associated with his policies, including the Iran war, Rubio is still considered a more traditional Republican compared with Vance and could be a potential challenger for the party’s 2028 nomination."}],[{"start":320.04,"text":"In the wake of the midterms, speculation has swirled in Washington that he will step down in preparation for a 2028 White House bid, but on Thursday the rumours were dismissed as “baseless fake news” by the state department. Rubio told the New York Times that staying on until the end of the term had “always been my plan”. Still, he is likely to face calls from Republican lawmakers and donors to distance himself from the unpopular administration."}],[{"start":320.54,"text":"Howard Lutnick"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":347.84,"text":"The commerce secretary has already been under pressure this year over his alleged ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which could lead to additional scrutiny from a Democrat-majority Congress. Lutnick has denied any wrongdoing."}],[{"start":362.467,"text":"Trump’s resistance to releasing justice department files associated with Epstein has fractured the Maga movement and contributed to the lack of enthusiasm of the president’s base in the midterm elections. If he is looking for a scalp to defuse anger over the Epstein scandal, Lutnick will be in the line of fire."}],[{"start":380.76,"text":"Lutnick could also be vulnerable because of his support for Trump’s tariffs, which were very unpopular on the campaign trail and have been blamed for stoking inflation."}],[{"start":389.56,"text":"One person close to the commerce secretary said he was renovating his home in Washington and had no plans to leave the administration."}],[{"start":390.06,"text":"Scott Bessent"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":396.96,"text":"The Treasury secretary has been one of Trump’s favourite cabinet members. The president even mused about appointing him to chair the Federal Reserve last year. But a majority of voters trashed Trump’s handling of the economy in the midterms — and Bessent is the top administration official responsible for the brief."}],[{"start":415.3,"text":"The economy has continued to grow under Bessent’s watch. Employment has been relatively solid while equity markets have risen, which has brightened his record. But he has been unable to deliver lower inflation in line with Trump’s 2024 campaign promise. This year he also presided over higher borrowing costs as US government debt sold off and mortgage rates soared."}],[{"start":437.64,"text":"In the final campaign stretch, Bessent took a jab at former Democratic president Barack Obama for joking that Trump’s White House looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory”. The Treasury secretary then visited a branch of the restaurant chain and accused Obama of elitism. “I had a great meal, always have a great meal, and I would just tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try,” he said."}],[{"start":459.52,"text":"Bessent is not expected to leave the Treasury or the administration but the results of the election are a sobering reminder of how hard it is to overcome voter concerns over affordability."}],[{"start":460.02,"text":"Stephen Miller"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":470.6,"text":"Miller, who has been among Trump’s top aides since the 2016 presidential campaign, masterminded the administration’s immigration crackdown, which was initially praised by many Americans. But the brutality of its operations has become a liability."}],[{"start":485.01,"text":"US voters were pleased when Trump in effect sealed the southern border with Mexico but recoiled at the aggressive mass deportation campaign that followed."}],[{"start":494.4,"text":"While Trump had promised expulsions, he had indicated they would be focused on criminals. Instead, large-scale sweeps have targeted all undocumented immigrants with fierce tactics by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other law enforcement officials."}],[{"start":510.76,"text":"After two US citizens protesting against the raids were killed by federal agents in Minnesota earlier this year, the administration turned to lower-profile enforcement operations."}],[{"start":520.92,"text":"But the backlash gathered steam, including among Latinos who had voted for Republicans in 2024 but swung back to the Democrats in this week’s vote."}],[{"start":521.42,"text":"Robert F Kennedy Jr"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":531.778,"text":"Kennedy joined Trump’s caravan during the 2024 general election — a marriage of convenience for a president looking to expand his coalition to include disaffected Democrats and a controversial figure searching for a new political home."}],[{"start":545.52,"text":"But that alliance may have run its course. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement and overhaul of US health policy, which reflected his vaccine scepticism, did not help Republicans in the midterms, even though it was meant to have cross-party appeal."}],[{"start":560.76,"text":"Kennedy in May denied wanting to run for president again in 2028 but some speculation has persisted in Washington that he could change his mind."}],[{"start":569.6,"text":"Photography by Getty Images, Reuters and AP"}],[{"start":576.91,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793959504_6282.mp3"}