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Trump considers ousting top aide who feuded with Melania

This article is more than 12 months old

WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump is moving to replace his deputy national security adviser after she feuded with First Lady Melania Trump, two sources familiar with the matter said, with a spokesman for the first lady leaving no doubt about where she stood on the matter.

The first lady complained to the president that she was unhappy with how she was being treated by Ms Mira Ricardel, a former Boeing Co executive who worked on the Trump presidential campaign and was picked by National Security Adviser John Bolton to be his deputy earlier this year, two sources told Reuters.

Asked about the reports, Mrs Trump's spokesman Stephanie Grisham issued an extraordinarily frank statement.

"It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House," Ms Grisham said.

Sources said that Mrs Trump explicitly asked the president to oust Ms Ricardel after their dealings over the Africa trip "didn't go well."

Another source said that Mrs Trump felt that Ms Ricardel tried to short-change the first lady in terms of US government resources allocated to support her Africa tour.

The sources did not elaborate on the clash over resources.

The White House and the National Security Council (NSC) did not respond to requests for comment.

Ms Ricardel could not be reached for comment. She had a prominent place standing to Mr Trump's right on Tuesday at a White House ceremony marking Deepavali.

A source familiar with Ms Ricardel's White House performance said she also ran afoul of much of the NSC staff and "sort of alienated everyone" except for Mr Bolton.- REUTERS

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