Linda McMahon is to step down from her post as leader of the Small Business Administration and will work on President Trump’s re-election effort.
“She’s been one of our all-time favorites. Just so smooth. She has helped so many people in the world of small business, and she’ll be leaving,” Trump said during remarks alongside McMahon from Mar-a-Lago, his property in Florida.
A new nomination will be made in consultation with McMahon “in the very near future,” the president said. McMahon’s successor is “somebody that we know very well and somebody that will fit in beautifully,” Trump added.
McMahon, 70, thanked Trump and her team at the Small Business Administration and noted her extensive travel to all 50 states to meet and tour small businesses.
“I want to thank you again for serving,” McMahon told Trump. “It’s been an honor and a privilege.”
The president went on to say when someone “does that good of a job,” he would prefer to a more formal send-off rather than “just say bye-bye,” a nod to other members of the Trump administration who have been fired via Twitter.
McMahon’s resignation is effective April 12.
Before taking on the role early in the Trump administration, McMahon worked as an executive with World Wrestling Entertainment, which was founded by her husband, Vince McMahon. She was confirmed by the Senate in a 81-19 vote in February 2017.
Before joining the Trump administration, McMahon launched unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Connecticut in 2010 and 2012 and had been active in Republican politics.
Her selection to lead the Small Business Administration in December 2016 was praised by Republicans on Capitol Hill, who considered her to be a good pick for the role.
Trump himself has been involved with WWE events, including in 2007 when he “tackled” Vince McMahon.
Unlike other members of Trump’s Cabinet — of which McMahon is one of five women — she has managed to avoid scandal. McMahon has played a key role in promoting the president’s agenda, including boosting Trump’s new trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
