Agency members reportedly welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to remove Secret Service Director Randolph Alles.
“Alles seemed more interested in making friends with agents than fixing the problems that plague the once-proud agency,” agency sources told the Daily Mail.
The White House confirmed Alles’ resignation Monday, according to a statement from press secretary Sarah Sanders. “The sentiment at the agency is ‘good riddance,'” sources said, according to a Monday report by journalists Ronald Kessler and David Martosko.
However, a Secret Service official told Axios the director was “very well-liked by the USSS executives and the rank and file, we liked his style.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, alongside U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles (L), look at limousines used by former Presidents Ronald Reagan (R) and Bill Clinton (L) at the James J. Rowley training facility in Beltsville, Maryland, on Oct. 13, 2017. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
“United States Secret Service director Randolph ‘Tex’ Alles has done a great job at the agency over the last two years, and the President is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country,” Sanders stated.
Alles was appointed on April 25, 2017 at the request of John Kelly, then secretary of Homeland Security, who threatened to quit otherwise, sources told the Daily Mail. Trump interviewed Alles, but he was reportedly not impressed due to Alles’ lack of knowledge of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS).
“Apparently it was too much trouble to read books and articles about the agency or to check out the Secret Service website before meeting with the president,” Kessler wrote in a book about Trump. (RELATED: Warren Wants To Investigate Trump’s Firing Of Secret Service Director)
At one point, Alles reportedly suggested trimming the Secret Service budget by reducing protection of Trump family members unless a threat had been made. The White House staff is said to have rejected the proposal.
Trump has selected James M. Murray, a career member of the USSS, to replace Alles, according to the White House. He will start in May.
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