Report: Trump Aide Lost Job Over Gambling Habit

One of President Trump's longest-serving aides was fired and escorted off the White House grounds so quickly Tuesday that he didn't have time to get his jacket. Sources tell the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that John McEntee, 27, was fired after being denied a security clearance over issues including tax problems and a serious gambling habit. According to the Post's sources, a background investigation discovered that McEntee gambled online, sometimes betting tens of thousands of dollars at a time. There's no sign that he broke any laws with his gambling, the sources say, but the habit was seen as a liability for somebody working so closely with the president.

McEntee—whose duties as Trump's personal assistant including making sure he had markers for autographs and adjusting White House clocks for daylight saving time, per the Journal—is a former Fox News production assistant who joined the Trump campaign in 2015 after persistently writing to its website seeking a job. The Post's sources say other White House staffers were upset at how a loyal Trump aide was ejected from the building so hastily. But McEntee wasn't out of a job for long: He was hired by Trump's re-election campaign as an adviser the same day he was fired from the White House. (Trump now has his 2020 campaign slogan.)