Tulsi Gabbard speaking in Phoenix, Arizona on December 20, 2025
A Reuters report on Saturday claimed President Donald Trump was weighing a “reset” in his administration to arrest what he considered “unfair” media coverage over his Iran fiasco. That one sentence undersells just how unhinged this is.
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi's removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, five people familiar with internal White House discussions said.
Of course he’s frustrated. He created this mess himself, and this time he can’t declare bankruptcy, stiff his creditors, or sic lawyers on the problem until it disappears. He promised “no wars,” and now he owns one. There’s no easy exit.
Any potential reshuffling could serve as a reset for the White House as it confronts a politically challenging stretch: The five-week-old war has driven up gas prices, dragged down Trump's approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the consequences for Republicans heading into November's midterm elections.
That’s the reality. Republicans tied themselves to Trump, and now they’re stuck with the consequences. The problem is the rest of the country and the world is stuck with him, too.
Some allies said his televised speech to the nation on Wednesday - which one senior White House official described as an attempt to project a sense of control and confidence about the direction of the war - fell flat, adding to the sense that changes in messaging or personnel were needed.
There was never a scenario where another rambling Trump speech was going to reassure anyone. If anything, it was always going to make things worse. People are done with him. They gave him a second chance, and he’s screwed it up beyond recognition. No one outside the MAGA deplorables is giving him the benefit of the doubt, ever again.
Several of the sources said Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among those potentially on the chopping block, after Trump ousted Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in recent weeks.Trump has in recent months expressed displeasure with Gabbard, said one senior White House official. Another source with direct knowledge of the matter said Trump had asked allies about their thoughts on potential replacements for his intelligence chief
Gabbard is awful, but funny how his immediate hit list is all the women in his Cabinet. That’s not a coincidence.
The same report notes that Trump himself isn’t particularly bothered by Lutnick. The discomfort is coming from others in his orbit over Lutnick’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s own history there speaks for itself.
Trump could ultimately decide, however, not to make any changes to his administration's senior ranks. Several others close to Trump have said the president is reluctant to overhaul his cabinet too frequently, after recurrent staffing changes during his first term dominated headlines and created the impression of chaos at the White House.
Nothing about this is about governing. He assembled a Cabinet of loyalists with little regard for competence, and now that his administration is trapped in a public opinion death spiral, his instinct is to reshuffle the deck rather than change course. The people he’s thinking about firing didn’t create the underlying problem.
Still, after his disappointing speech on Wednesday, doing nothing could be just as politically dangerous as making a significant change that, for better or for worse, would dominate news headlines, one White House official said.
Actually, doing nothing for the next three years would quite literally be the best political move Trump could do.
Trump worked with his speechwriting team and top advisers on this week's prime-time address, one official said, after aides had urged him for weeks to speak directly to the nation about the U.S. role in Iran [...]"The speech did not accomplish what it was supposed to," the official said, adding that while Trump's core supporters still backed him on the war, they are broadly under economic strain.
Even that framing misses the point. The issue isn’t presentation. It’s the substance.
Two of the White House officials said Trump is extremely frustrated with what he perceives to be unfair media coverage of the war in Iran, and he has made clear to his team he wants more positive news accounts. He has not indicated, however, that he is interested in adjusting his own messaging strategy.
There is no “messaging strategy” to adjust. The behavior is the problem. Demanding better coverage while continuing the same actions that caused the backlash is not a plan.
If Trump wants more positive news coverage, there is one obvious option: step aside.
Still, the sources said the possibility of a shake-up had grown decidedly more serious in recent weeks. One senior White House source said Trump wants to make any big changes now, well ahead of the midterms.
Quite literally every single one of his Cabinet members deserves to be fired, and every single possible replacement would look the same: loyalists first, competence optional.
We are stuck in a political nightmare. The only silver lining is that Trump, himself, is as well.
Markos Moulitsas is founder and editor of the blogging website Daily Kos and author of three books.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
- Not Too Soon To Ask How We Can Repair Trump's Wreckage ›
- Was Trump Cabinet’s Loyalty Ritual Funny — Or Scary? ›
- Kristi Noem. Pam Bondi. Who Will Trump Fire Next? ›
- Trump Contemplates Other Cabinet Changes as He Faces Political Clock - The New York Times ›
- Trump accused of running ‘misogynistic administration’ after Bondi dismissal | Trump administration | The Guardian ›
- Trump weighs firing more Cabinet members after Bondi ousting, report claims | The Independent ›
- Donald Trump says to not expect Cabinet shake-up after Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem firings ›
- Trump Cabinet worries no one is safe after Bondi and Noem firings | CNN Politics ›
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