President Donald Trump reportedly fired Madeline Westerhout, a personal assistant, on Thursday after comments she made about Trump’s relationship with daughters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump leaked to the press. Westerhout allegedly told the press in an off-the-record meeting that Trump also disliked taking photos with Tiffany because he thought of her as overweight.
Two sources told Politico that the comments came during an off-the-record dinner with reporters and deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley on Aug. 17 during Trump’s vacation in Bedminster, New Jersey. Westerhout, 28, allegedly told journalists Trump could not pick out Tiffany in a crowd of people.
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“She had a couple drinks and in an uncharacteristically unguarded moment, she opened up to the reporters,” one source told Politico.
Gidley left the dinner for an interview with Fox News. Then, Westerhout made the comments.
Current and former administration officials aware of the dinner told The New York Times, Westerhout also made remarks about Trump’s eating habits and his youngest son, Barron Trump.
The dinner was attended by journalists from the Washington Post, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and Retuers. According to the Times, Westerhout’s comments started circulating a couple days after the dinner, but it took a week for it to reach Trump. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reportedly gave Trump the details.
The Times also reported that Westerhout did not sign a non-disclosure agreement, but Trump refuted that himself on Twitter Saturday morning. Trump also said he accepted Westerhout’s apology, but she still left the White House.
“While Madeleine Westerhout has a fully enforceable confidentiality agreement, she is a very good person and I don’t think there would ever be reason to use it. She called me yesterday to apologize, had a bad night,” Trump tweeted. “I fully understood and forgave her! I love Tiffany, doing great!”
In his next tweet though, Trump said he is suing “various people” for violating NDAs, including Omarosa Manigult.
“Yes, I am currently suing various people for violating their confidentiality agreements,” the president tweeted. “Disgusting and foul mouthed Omarosa is one. I gave her every break, despite the fact that she was despised by everyone, and she went for some cheap money from a book. Numerous others also!”
On Friday, Trump told reporters as he left the White House that Westerhout was fired for her comments on his children. He called the remarks “a little hurtful,” before calling Westerhout a “very good person.” Trump said he would call Tiffany after arriving at Camp David, adding, “I love Tiffany.”
Westerhout joined the Trump team after the 2016 presidential election, but instead worked at the Republican National Committee. She was recommended by Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus. Even after Priebus left, she remained, eventually being thought of as a “senior advisor,” according to a former senior official who spoke with the Times, before she was fired.
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