Ryan Zinke joins other White House aides departure

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will be leaving by the end of the year, US President Donald Trump announced Saturday. That will make him the latest top official to exit the US leader’s circle of close advisers.

Dozens of White House aides — from attorney general Jeff Sessions to press secretary Sean Spicer to chief of staff Reince Priebus — have either left or been sacked from their posts since Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

– Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke –
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and ex-member of the House of Representatives, was one of the main executors of Trump’s efforts to reduce environmental protections in the United States.

He managed to hold onto his post for some two years despite a series of scandals over expenditures, including reports that his department was spending nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in his office — a cost he later said he negotiated down to $75,000.

Zinke has also faced criticism over costly US Park Police helicopter flights last year that allowed him to return to Washington for a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, and several other flights on non-commercial aircraft.

– Chief of staff John Kelly –
Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, has been credited with helping restore a degree of order to the often-chaotic Trump White House.

But in the process he clashed with members of the Trump clan, and at times infuriated Democrats with his blunt comments.