‘Rats, sinking ships’: Quiet White House exit raises eyebrows

Vice President JD Vance's special adviser for the Middle East has left the Trump administration to take a new role at a lobbying firm, Bloomberg Government reported on Monday.

Wesam H. Hassanein has joined Continental Strategy LLC, a firm connected to the Trump administration and the Republican Party, the outlet reported. The native Arabic speaker said he had apparently planned to leave the White House when the U.S.-Israeli joint strikes started on Iran on Feb. 28.

“I’m not leaving because I oppose the president’s decision on Iran — I’m 100% supportive of President Trump’s decision to deny Iran nuclear weapons,” Hassanein said. “We should have done what President Trump is doing years ago.”

Hassanein previously worked for the State Department before joining the Trump administration. He said he had been mulling over several offers before selecting the firm founded by Carlos Trujillo, former Ambassador to the Organization of American States.

“Continental really, really stood out as family oriented, a family culture, with an excellent client base,” he said. “They are in total lockstep with the administration, working to advance America First policies.”

Several people reacted to the news of the latest White House exit.

"Rats, sinking ships...," Mehdi Hassan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, wrote on X.

"VP Vance's special adviser for the Middle East, Wesam H. Hassanein, leaves role for the private sector," Jonathan Guyer, Program Director of Institute for Global Affairs, wrote on X.

"Why do they all leave when it gets hot in the kitchen?? Very weak appointees doing the Bongino," political commentator Johnny Law wrote on X.

"Why stay when POTUS does the bidding of another country to lie us into war. Get off the sinking ship," copywriter John Bethel wrote on X.