Trump to Top Campaign Aide: 'You're Fired'

Donald Trump ^[1] has fired his national political director just six weeks after he was hired, evidence of the ongoing civil war within his campaign.

Rick Wiley was the first major get by Trump's new campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who came on board in April to grow the former reality television star's bare-bones campaign that until that point had succeeded purely on the force of the candidate's personality into a professional national organization that could compete with Hillary Clinton ^[2]'s well-oiled machine.

The moves split the campaign ^[3] between those loyal to controversial campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, then fighting allegations of assaulting a reporter, and Manafort, and it has reportedly required rearranging the office ^[4] to keep the two factions apart.

On Wednesday, the campaign announced Wiley's departure in a press release that downplayed his departure, claiming he was always meant to be a consultant on a "short-term basis."

"Rick Wiley was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam," the statement said. "It is now doing better than ever, we are leading in the polls, and we have many exciting events ready to go, far ahead of schedule while Hillary continues her long, boring quest against Bernie."

But that statement stands in stark contrast to the announcement when he joined the campaign, which called him "a tremendous asset as we enter the final phase of securing the nomination" and "a seasoned political expert with a very successful career in winning elections."

Sources inside the campaign told Politico ^[5] that Wiley was fired because he refused to work with Lewandowski or his people, particularly Karen Giorno, who ran the primary campaign in Florida. They claimed Wiley refused to take advantage of the apparatus she built – the one that ushered in a major victory in the Sunshine State and knocked Florida Sen. Marco Rubio from the race – instead building a campaign from scratch and sometimes refused to take Giorno's calls.

"Karen unloaded on Wiley" in a call to Trump, the source said. "Mr. Trump is loyal. He believed her. … Rick picked a fight with the wrong person."

Wiley was also the person within the campaign with the closest ties to the Republican National Committee, making him both valuable as Trump tried shift from running as a political outsider into the party fold and an awkward fit for the anti-establishment candidate.

"Rick has RNC tattooed on his forehead. He's not part of the Trump culture," an insider told Politico. "Wiley was someone who didn't understand what we were able to do, and he wasn't interested in being a part of the team in the end anyway."

Trump reportedly ^[6] felt Wiley had negotiated a bad joint fundraising agreement with the RNC, which allowed donations of nearly half a million dollars but only included 11 states.

Before joining Trump, Wiley was the manager of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's failed presidential campaign.

Walker folded his campaign after just 71 days, having overspent his fundraising while collapsing in the polls.