Trump's handpicked loyalists fail at everything — even doing evil: ex-GOP operative

Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson reacted on Wednesday to the most recent Trump cabinet exits, saying it was getting ugly.

In his Substack, the co-founder of anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, revealed the similarities among President Donald Trump's now-ousted insiders and why he has viewed them as failures. In the last several weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer have all been dismissed — others, reportedly FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — may be on the chopping block next.

"Firing season is here," Wilson wrote.

"Here is the fundamental problem, and it is one Trump will never solve because it is downstream of who he is: he picks people for loyalty, and loyalty in his world is inversely correlated with competence," Wilson explained.

And that is problematic considering the nature of the cabinet positions.

"The kind of person who will say 'yes, sir' to anything is, almost by definition, not the kind of person who can actually do a cabinet-level job," Wilson wrote. "You cannot prosecute complex federal cases, run a 3-million-person military, manage a 22-agency national security apparatus, or direct the FBI on trolling, Truth Social posts, and a--kissing."

"And here’s the really incredible part: even the ones who have tried to do evil on Trump’s behalf aren’t even very good at that," Wilson added.

But these cabinet members knew what would eventually come, Wilson explained.

"In 2026, America is watching Trump fire people and seeing something very different," he added. "His approval is in the political Marianas Trench, it’s so far underwater. The midterms are seven months away. Republicans are whispering about a wipeout. And the man who built his brand on never showing weakness is now panic-firing the very people he told us, fourteen months ago, were the greatest collection of talent ever assembled in Washington."

"It’s not a show anymore. It’s a tell."