Longtime Trump personal aide to leave White House

Washington, Nov 27 (IANS) Jordan Karem, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's closest aides, plans to leave the White House, multiple U.S. media outlets reported on Monday. Karem, who joined Trump's presidential campaign in July 2015, has been serving as the director of Oval Office operations since March, Xinhua news agency reported. He is expected to leave around the start of 2019, according to The Hill, a U.S. political newspaper and website. "Jordan Karem is great guy who I have gotten to know well over the last several years," Trump said in a statement in response to queries about Karem. "He was with me from the beginning, and I appreciate his loyalty and his commitment to my administration." Karem is the first White House official who meets Trump in the morning and the last to see the president at night and joins the president when he travels. His departure is the latest in a series of shake-ups within the administration since the midterm elections earlier this month, including the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the reassignment of top National Security Council official Mira Ricardel. Trump is also considering ousting Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, according to reports.
--IANS kk/sc