All the President’s Men: Elon Musk to Mike Pence, 5 friends-turned-foes of Donald Trump | World News

In June and July of 2025, US President Donald Trump and former presidential advisor Elon Musk engaged in a spectacular public feud. It began after Musk resigned from the Trump adminration and denounced the president’s flagship legislation, the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, as a “disgusting abomination.”The clash quickly escalated. Musk accused Trump, without evidence, of appearing in unreleased government files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The White House dismissed the claim. Trump retaliated claiming Musk had “lost his mind” and threatened to cancel his federal contracts, worth an estimated $38 billion.
The episode was dramatic, but not unusual.
Donald Trump’s White House broke records in more ways than one. Chief among them: the sheer number of people who came and went. Trump’s inner circle was more like a revolving door. And as time has passed, many of those who once worked closest with him have become his loudest critics.
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A 2023 Washington Post article put it plainly stating, “No president has ever attracted more public detractors who were formerly in his inner circle.” The l includes a vice president, generals, cabinet members, lawyers, spokespeople, campaign aides—many of whom are now openly backing his rivals.
In 2024, PBS called it “a striking chorus of detractors, one without precedent in the modern era.”
According to the Brookings Institution, Trump had a 92 percent turnover in his “A-Team”—the top decision-makers in the White House. No other recent adminration comes close. A Harvard Business Review study explains the consequences: every leadership change creates disruption. Too many changes, and there’s no time to do meaningful work.
Even Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former acting chief of staff, admitted in 2020 that, “he didn’t hire very well.” Mulvaney added that Trump “did not have experience at running government and didn’t know how to put together a team that could work well with him.”Story continues below this ad
Here are five major figures who’ve broken ranks with Trump—and made their reasons public.
1. Mike Pence – Former Vice President
Since Trump had no political or military experience when he took office, Mike Pence, a former congressman and Indiana governor, was brought in to stabilise the White House and navigate Washington. Early media coverage dubbed him Trump’s “chief fixer on Capitol Hill” and “key to the first 100 days.”
But the alliance shattered on January 6, 2021. When Trump asked Pence to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election win, Pence refused. Trump attacked him publicly. Rioters stormed the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
Pence later said, “Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.” He also said of Trump’s praise for Putin, “I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal.” In 2024, Pence unsuccessfully ran against Trump in the Republican primary.
2. John Bolton – Former National Security AdvisorStory continues below this ad
John Bolton was Trump’s third National Security Advisor, serving for 17 months before they split over disagreements on foreign policy, including Iran and North Korea. Trump said he fired Bolton; Bolton insed he resigned.
In his memoir The Room Where It Happened, Bolton called Trump “erratic,” “stunningly uninformed,” and “unfit for office.” He claimed foreign leaders “think he is a laughing fool.”
When Trump returned to power in 2024, he revoked Bolton’s security clearance and labeled him a “very dumb person” and a “stupid guy.”
3. John Kelly – Former Chief of Staff
A retired Marine general, John Kelly served as Trump’s longest-tenured chief of staff. He tried to bring structure to a chaotic White House, but later became one of Trump’s most pointed critics.Story continues below this ad
He told The New York Times that Trump “certainly falls into the general definition of fasc, for sure,” and described his leadership style as “dictatorial,” “fasc,” and lacking empathy.
The Atlantic reported that Kelly repeatedly had to correct Trump when he made references to Hitler’s rule as a model for leadership. Trump responded, “John Kelly is a lowlife, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to move on!”
4. Jim Mattis – Former Secretary of Defence
Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defence secretary, resigned in 2018 over the decision to withdraw US troops from Syria. In his resignation letter, he stressed the importance of alliances, in an apparent rebuke of Trump, but otherwise stayed largely quiet.
In 2020, Mattis broke his silence, writing, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.” He continued, “Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.”Story continues below this ad
The Atlantic reported that Mattis and his aides believed Trump had “limited cognitive ability, and was of generally dubious character.” According to journal Bob Woodward, Mattis was so alarmed Trump’s potential to launch a nuclear strike against North Korea that he slept in gym clothes and prayed at the National Cathedral.
5. Mark Milley – Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Mark Milley served as Trump’s top military officer, but after the 2020 election and the January 6 attack, he began to speak out.
In Woodward’s book War, Milley is quoted calling Trump a “fasc to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” During his tenure, Milley had placed a call to Chinese leadership, reassuring them that the US would not launch a nuclear strike against Beijing. Trump described these calls as “an act so egregious that, in times gone , the punishment would have been DEATH!”Story continues below this ad
In his final public remarks before retiring in 2023, Milley said the military did not swear an oath to a “wannabe dictator.” Biden later issued him a pre-emptive pardon in case Trump sought retribution. Milley thanked him, saying he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life “fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights.”
Honourable mentions 
The l doesn’t end there. Some of Trump’s earliest hires and closest confidantes have since turned on him—some in blunt, unforgettable terms:
Rex Tillerson, first Secretary of State: “His understanding of global hory was really limited.”
Bill Barr, second Attorney General: “Someone who engaged in that kind of bullying… shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”Story continues below this ad
Anthony Scaramucci, briefly Communications Director: “He is the domestic terror of the 21st century.”
Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to his final Chief of Staff: “Donald Trump is the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime.”
And finally; Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer, who said: “Donald’s an idiot.”