Trump removed or forced out a large number of senior officials who disagreed with him or drew public attention to misconduct or election security, and then publicly criticized several of them. The turnover included multiple Cabinet secretaries, national security officials, and inspectors general.
Brookings, which tracked departures across the first term, counted turnover in 60 of 65 (92%) of the president's senior “A Team” positions by January 20, 2021, including four national security advisers and two changes each at Defense and Homeland Security. Experts told PolitiFact there was “no precedent” for the pace at which Trump removed or replaced five inspectors general in the spring of 2020, four of them on Friday nights.
Correction (October 14, 2026): This entry previously said Brookings documented “unusually high turnover in key national security positions.” The Brookings tracker documents the turnover itself (92% of senior “A Team” positions) but does not compare national security posts with earlier administrations, so the entry now states what Brookings reports. The claim that Trump removed multiple inspectors general in 2020 is now sourced to PolitiFact, and the claim that he criticized Mattis afterward to Military Times.