White House Mulls Ousting Former Aide Walsh From Pro-Trump Group

(Bloomberg) -- Senior advisers to President Donald Trump are debating whether to press for the ouster of former aide Katie Walsh from a pro-Trump political group and the Republican National Committee over disparaging comments attributed to her in a forthcoming book on the White House, two people familiar with the discussions said.

Walsh, a former deputy White House chief of staff, is quoted saying that working with Trump is “like trying to figure out what a child wants” in the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” Walsh denied making the remark. Author Michael Wolff has “dozens of hours” of tapes to back up quotes in his book, including recordings of conversation with Walsh, Axios reported.

The president's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is among those deliberating over how the White House should respond to the remark attributed to Walsh, the people said. Kushner was dismissive of the idea of seeking Walsh's ouster in a conversation Thursday, said one person familiar with the discussion.

Leaders of the political group, America First, defended Walsh.

“As the chairman of the board of America First and a longtime friend of the Trump family, I say with the utmost confidence that Katie Walsh's work ethic, loyalty, and commitment to the president are incomparable. We are proud to have her on the team at America First,” said Dallas businessman Tommy Hicks, chair of the America First Policies nonprofit social welfare group and the America First super PAC.

Brian O. Walsh, president of America First Policies, who isn't related to Katie Walsh, said he doubted the comments attributed to Katie Walsh in the Wolff book will affect the organization.

Walsh is a paid employee of the Republican National Committee and another course of action could be to seek her ouster from that post, the people familiar the White House deliberations said.

The White House hasn't reached any decision on how to respond to Walsh's comments, the people said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Joshua Gallu

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.