Washington, D.C. — In a dramatic move marking the start of his new term, President Donald Trump began a sweeping purge of more than 1,000 appointees from former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Among the first high-profile removals were celebrity chef Jose Andres and retired General Mark Milley, signalling Trump’s intent to reshape federal leadership overnight.
Trump announced the dismissals in a midnight post on Truth Social, where he revealed his Presidential Personnel Office was identifying and removing appointees who, in his words, “are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”
“Our first day in the White House is not over yet! … Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon,” Trump wrote, punctuating the statement with his famous catchphrase: “YOU’RE FIRED!”
One of the first to be dismissed was Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had been serving on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Milley, known for calling Trump a “wannabe dictator,” had previously faced harsh criticism from Trump, who suggested Milley should face severe consequences for holding back-channel talks with China.
A portrait of Milley was removed from the Pentagon shortly after Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
Also dismissed was Jose Andres, the renowned Spanish-American chef and humanitarian awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Biden.
Andres, who had a longstanding feud with Trump after pulling out of a restaurant deal at Trump’s D.C. hotel, responded on X (formerly Twitter) that his term had already expired.
“My 2-year term was already up,” Andres wrote, adding, “May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name-calling aside… Let’s build longer tables.”
Other appointees removed in the late-night purge included former diplomat Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.
Alongside these high-profile dismissals, Trump ordered federal employees to return to the office five days a week and began efforts to weaken job protections for civil servants.
These moves are widely seen as the opening salvo in his broader campaign to restructure and align federal bureaucracy with his administration’s agenda.
As the 47th president, Trump is making it clear that his return to the White House will include significant changes to leadership, bureaucracy, and the federal workforce.
