State Department official reinstated after appeal to Trump’s closest adviser
Gavin Wax, chief of staff for public diplomacy at the US State Department, was briefly dismissed on 20 July before securing his reinstatement within a week after a personal appeal to Boris Epshteyn, one of President Donald Trump's closest advisers. Wax was placed on administrative leave following a Friday lunch he hosted for pro-Kremlin Serbian politicians, held against the advice of career officials, and after he reportedly told the guests that Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau had approved the meeting when he had not. The episode has reportedly angered Secretary of State Marco Rubio and unsettled department staff, who see it as evidence that proximity to Trump can override formal decisions made by senior officials.
According to five sources familiar with the matter, two security agents were stationed outside Wax's office to ensure he stayed until his 5pm dismissal meeting with HR, and the decision had been signed off by the White House's Presidential Personnel Office and senior State Department figures at Landau's request. Yet after Wax's call to Epshteyn, who allegedly raised the matter directly with Trump, the removal was reversed and he was back at his desk the following Monday. Rubio has reportedly made clear Wax cannot remain in the department long-term, while a State Department spokesperson denied the account entirely. Wax, 33, is currently on paternity leave and is expected to move with his boss, Under Secretary Sarah Rogers, to the US Agency for Global Media once her nomination to lead it is confirmed by the Senate.
- Trump official Gavin Wax was fired, then reinstated within a week
- A call to adviser Boris Epshteyn reportedly reversed his dismissal
- Row followed a lunch with pro-Kremlin Serbian politicians; Rubio furious
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Gavin Wax works at the US State Department as chief of staff for public diplomacy, a role that helps shape how the department communicates policy. The department is led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Chris Landau serving as deputy secretary. Political appointees like Wax typically serve at the pleasure of senior officials, but questions have arisen over how much influence figures close to President Donald Trump can have over personnel decisions inside federal agencies.
Boris Epshteyn is a longstanding adviser to Trump, known for having close personal access to the president outside formal government channels. The Presidential Personnel Office is the White House body that manages political appointments across the federal government, and its involvement in this case points to how staffing decisions at agencies like the State Department can also run through the White House.
The US Agency for Global Media oversees US state-funded international broadcasters, and its leadership is subject to Senate confirmation. Sarah Rogers, an Under Secretary at the State Department, has been nominated to head that agency, which is relevant background for understanding Wax's expected next move within government.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Scandal-hit Trump official put on leave with agents guarding his office… before desperate move saves his skin and unleashes fury across DC”.