White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Trump on Wednesday against criticism over the record number of staff departures he’s seen just one year into his first term.
Trump has faced questions about the high turnover rate inside his administration, particularly on the heels of three separate resignations over the past week by senior White House officials Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks, and Josh Raffel. The president himself said in a tweet on Tuesday he still has “some people” he wants to change.
“This is an intense place, as is every White House, and it’s not abnormal to have people come and go,” Sanders told reporters, claiming if the West Wing has descended into chaos, “we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything that we have done.”
“There are historic things that have taken place in the first year. It sounds like a very functional place of business to me,” she said.
Asked if the White House is suffering from a management problem at the highest level, Sanders later said, “I don’t believe there is one.”
“I think that’s why the first year of the administration has been so successful,” she said in reference to Trump’s leadership.
