NEW YORK, Nov 8 — Attorney-General Jeff Sessions was fired by President Donald Trump yesterday, making him the latest top official to exit the US leader’s inner circle.

Dozens of White House aides — from press secretary Sean Spicer to chief of staff Reince Priebus to counsel Don McGahn — have either left or been sacked from their posts since Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

Here is a sampling of senior departures:

Attorney-General Jeff Sessions

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Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, was the first member of the Senate to back Trump’s insurgent bid in 2015 for the Republican presidential nomination.

After winning the presidency, Trump rewarded Sessions by naming him to head the Department of Justice.

But relations between the two quickly soured after Sessions recused himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected.

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Trump personally attacked Sessions on several occasions for failing to protect him from the Mueller probe.

“I don’t have an Attorney-General,” Trump told Hill.TV in an interview in September. “It’s very sad.”

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley

US President Donald Trump meets with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, October 9, 2018.
US President Donald Trump meets with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, October 9, 2018.

Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would leave the administration at the end of 2018, was a shining star of the administration from the start.

Thrust onto the international stage, she quickly became an astute advocate for Trump’s foreign policy, using forceful language against North Korea, Syria and Iran.

The former South Carolina governor was also unafraid to speak her mind, often in fairly undiplomatic language, and built a reputation for standing up to Trump when she felt it was warranted.

Her aggressive criticism of Russia won plaudits, even as she stepped beyond the position held by the White House.

Her resignation announcement last month sparked speculation about her political future.

But she quickly denied any plans to challenge Trump in 2020, instead saying it was “time to stand aside” and that she would remain loyal to the president.

Environment chief Scott Pruitt

Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks to employees of the agency in Washington February 21, 2017.
Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks to employees of the agency in Washington February 21, 2017.

Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt’s tenure was beset by scandal, and Trump pushed him out in July.

A former Oklahoma Attorney-General with ties to fossil fuel industries, Pruitt was accused of using his position to enrich his own family’s lifestyle in violation of federal law.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

Rex Tillerson at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to become US Secretary of State on Capitol Hill in Washington January 11, 2017.
Rex Tillerson at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to become US Secretary of State on Capitol Hill in Washington January 11, 2017.

Rex Tillerson was fired by Trump in March, ending a rocky tenure for the former Exxon chief executive as the nation’s top diplomat.

Tillerson was frequently at odds with the mercurial president and Trump said that while the pair got along well, they “disagreed on things” — notably the Iran nuclear deal, from which Trump withdrew in May.

During his brief stay at Foggy Bottom, Tillerson frequently found himself out of the loop and caught unawares by policy shifts announced in Trump tweets.

Chief Strategist Steve Bannon

US President Donald Trump talks to chief strategist Steve Bannon during a swearing in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington January 22, 2017.
US President Donald Trump talks to chief strategist Steve Bannon during a swearing in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington January 22, 2017.

The architect of Trump’s nationalist-populist campaign and his election victory, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was nicknamed the Prince of Darkness and the Shadow President.

His economic nationalism became the lynchpin of Trump policies, even as many of Bannon’s other ideas were rebuffed by policy rivals.

Bannon’s constant clashes with other advisors became untenable, as did his ties to the extreme right, which drew accusations that Trump fostered racists. Bannon left in August 2017.

Top Economic Advisor Gary Cohn

US National Economic Council director Gary Cohn speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington DC, April 20, 2017.
US National Economic Council director Gary Cohn speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington DC, April 20, 2017.

Gary Cohn, a former president of investment bank Goldman Sachs, resigned as Trump’s top economic advisor in March in protest against the president’s decision to levy new global trade tariffs.

A long-time Democrat, Cohn had always been an uneasy fit in an administration propelled to power by strident nationalism.

National Security Advisors Flynn, McMaster

Former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn departs after a plea hearing at US District Court, in Washington December 1, 2017.
Former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn departs after a plea hearing at US District Court, in Washington December 1, 2017.

Michael Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, was being investigated for his contacts with Russians and eventually pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

He lasted only 22 days as national security advisor, ousted amid concerns he could be compromised by false statements he made over his contacts with Russian officials.

Flynn’s replacement, HR McMaster, also a lieutenant general, lasted barely a year.

He never really clicked with the president, who bristled at McMaster echoing the US intelligence establishment consensus that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. — AFP