- White House staffers are growing anxious and complained that working in the West Wing has become "toxic."
- Concerns have grown after officials were seen being escorted out of the building.
- The recent wave of resignations and firings of White House officials have also done little to calm the mood.
The White House is being called "the most toxic working environment on the planet" by some staffers as rumours of another wave of firings have circulated, Axios reported Wednesday.
"Usually tough times bring people together," a White House official told Axios. "But right now this atmosphere is ripping people apart.
"There's no leadership, no trust, no direction and at this point there's very little hope," the official continued. "Would you want to go to work every day not knowing whether your future career was going to be destroyed without explanation?"
Following the abrupt firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, officials were reportedly vague in providing details on the fate of senior White House officials that have drawn ire from President Donald Trump, including White House chief of staff John Kelly, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Though rumors of discontent between Trump and Tillerson circulated in 2017, the approach Trump took to fire Tillerson on Tuesday caught staffers by surprise, Axios reported.
Trump's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, also resigned earlier this month, after facing an uphill battle against Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The anxiety in the White House has also been exacerbated after several officials were escorted out of the building due to security clearance issues, sources told Axios. In addition to the firing of John McEntee, Trump's longtime personal assistant, on Wednesday, an aide to first lady Melania Trump was reportedly escorted out.
Kelly, who was also reportedly on Trump's radar, enacted stricter measures for security clearances following a scandal involving a former aide, Rob Porter. The overhauled process has so far claimed the security clearance of Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
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