Trump ally removed from role after repor

What happened

The State Department removed Paolo Zampolli as special envoy for global partnerships and told him he was no longer a government employee. Zampolli was a longtime Trump associate who once represented Melania Trump as a modeling agent and said he introduced her to Donald Trump. Trump appointed him to the envoy post in 2025. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the assignment covered cultural diplomacy, not broader foreign policy. Zampolli said his boss was the president and only the president could fire him. He defended wider contacts as serving Trump’s interests and denied acting illegally. The dispute lasted for months in emails copying more than a dozen officials.

How each side covered it

From the left

Left-leaning outlets framed the episode as a public display of Trump administration disorder and personal infighting. The Daily Beast emphasized a feud that became bitter and unusually threatening. AlterNet centered on an envoy challenging department limits while pursuing work beyond cultural diplomacy. CNN highlighted the fall of a Trump-connected figure with long personal ties to the family.