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After the Exit
Second-Term Exits, and Why Most Stay Quiet
The second term has had plenty of departures but few tell-alls so far. Soft landings and the treatment of earlier critics may help explain why.
By Daniel Rosenthal · Published · AI-written, human-reviewed
Have second-term officials criticized Trump after leaving?
Rarely, so far. Most second-term departures have either moved to another post or left with praise in both directions. The clearest exception is Joe Kent, who resigned in protest over the Iran war. Even he aimed his criticism at Israel and Trump's advisers rather than at Trump, the same framing Thom Tillis uses in Part 1.
| Who | Role | Exit | What happened after | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Waltz | National Security Adviser | Removed May 2025 after the Signal chat leak | Nominated as UN ambassador the same day. Stayed in the administration. | Reuters |
| Elon Musk | DOGE lead | Left May 2025 | Public feud in June 2025, then said some posts "went too far." | AP via ABC7 |
| Kristi Noem | Homeland Security Secretary | Removed March 5, 2026 | Named special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Thanked Trump publicly. | Yahoo News / SDS |
| Joe Kent | Director, National Counterterrorism Center | Resigned March 17, 2026 | Quit over the Iran war, saying Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation." Blamed Israel and advisers, not Trump directly. Trump called him weak on security. | NPR via WFAE |
| Tulsi Gabbard | Director of National Intelligence | Resigned May 22, 2026 | Cited her husband's health. Trump praised her. Axios reported she was pushed out. | Boston Globe / AP · Axios |
The full list of second-term departures is on the homepage tracker.
What happened to first-term officials who spoke out?
Two cases are often cited. In January 2025, Defense Secretary Hegseth revoked retired Gen. Mark Milley's security clearance and protective detail and ordered an inspector general review of his conduct. In October 2025, John Bolton was indicted on charges of mishandling classified information, tied to diary notes from his White House years; in June 2026 he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully retaining classified records.
The Bolton case had an evidentiary basis that a court accepted, and the plea is his own admission. Critics nonetheless argue that pursuing a prominent critic, and stripping protection from another, sends a signal to anyone weighing a book or an interview. Supporters of the administration say the actions enforced the law and ended privileges.
Sources: AP via WECT · NPR via WGCU · The New Daily / AAP
Is the quiet likely to last?
History suggests caution either way. Most first-term books and interviews arrived one to four years after the author left. Several second-term officials left only in 2026. Whether they speak may depend less on what they saw than on what speaking would cost. We will add entries as on-the-record accounts appear.
The series
- Part 1: Thom Tillis and the book he waited to write
- Part 2: The first-term Cabinet and White House, after they left
- Part 3: Republicans in Congress who spoke on the way out
- Part 4: Second-term exits, and why most stay quiet (you are here)
- Part 5: The pattern, and the case against reading too much into it