If you’re looking at the headlines today, you’ve probably seen a few about how Kirstjen Nielsen, Donald Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, has resigned from her position. But if we look a little bit deeper, it looks as though that’s not exactly what happened.
According to Axios, it was a bit more complicated (and a lot more dramatic) than that. A new report suggests that the president fired her because he was desperate to make her resignation look like he had the upper hand (which isn’t surprising at all).
According to the report, Nielsen had her resignation letter prepared when she met with Trump in the White House yesterday. Clearly, she was ready to leave her job if things did not go well. Unfortunately for Nielsen, things went south during the meeting — and when Nielsen tried to deliver her resignation letter to the media, Trump beat her to it and predictably announced her resignation on Twitter.
To those who were familiar with the tension between Nielsen and Trump, this showdown wouldn’t be a surprise. But for the rest of us, it’s just another reminder that Trump is practically like a toddler with a need to one-up everyone so they can’t make him look bad.
The New York Times has stated this wasn’t the first time Nielsen had resignation on the table. Her relationship with Trump had grown tense over time and it seems there were significant disagreements over how immigration should be handled. Reports suggest the president was asking her to perform illegal actions regarding immigration and when Nielsen tried to explain to the president why it was wrong or not feasible, the president would subject her to verbal abuse.
Nielsen’s ousting follows a pattern we’ve seen before from Trump admin members who have either resigned or been fired. Like many of them, she will likely have a difficult time reviving her career after tarnishing it in the Trump administration.
Featured image via screen capture
