The White House has placed a senior administration official on administrative leave after conservative activist James O’Keefe released undercover footage.
The video showed the staffer sharply criticizing President Donald Trump and describing the administration as chaotic and dangerous
Advertisement
(Top official quits minutes before Trump lands in China).
The official at the center of the controversy, Benjamin Ellisten, served as a senior budget analyst and funding manager within the administration.
In secretly recorded conversations published Monday, Ellisten allegedly referred to Trump as a “madman” and claimed the president was “f*cking it up for everybody.”
(Trump gets off plane in China with surprise guest — Beijing is not happy)
A White House official confirmed to The Daily Caller that Ellisten had been placed on leave following the release of the footage.
“He has no direct access to the President or Senior Staff, and does not work on the White House campus,” the official said.
(Trump drops a special surprise minutes before landing in China)
“Such views expressed by the individual are not reflective of patriots who admirably serve in the Administration,” the official added.
Advertisement
The undercover recordings were conducted by journalists associated with O’Keefe, whose sting-style investigations have repeatedly targeted government agencies, media organizations, and political operatives over the past decade.
In the video, Ellisten allegedly expressed deep frustration with Trump personally and with the broader direction of the administration.
“He’s a madman,” Ellisten said in footage released online. “Literally. He’s invincible. Nothing can stop him, and that’s dangerous.”
Ellisten also reportedly described Trump as “erratic” and “scary,” questioning the president’s decision-making process and suggesting his actions appeared reckless despite being “of sound mind and body.”
“The way his decisions are so erratic, you would think he drinks,” Ellisten said. “He doesn’t drink. And that’s what makes it so dangerous.”
The comments quickly spread across conservative media and social media platforms, where Trump allies pointed to the footage as evidence of internal hostility toward the president inside the federal bureaucracy.
Advertisement
The controversy intensified further when Ellisten allegedly speculated that Trump’s policies involving Iran and global oil markets could benefit business interests connected to the president’s family.
“One of the things that looks like it’s going on, and going on a lot, is insider trading,” Ellisten said in the undercover recording, while discussing energy markets and Middle East tensions.
No evidence was presented in the video to support those allegations.
Here’s a White House staffer on camera saying “We have to get rid of Trump… he’s invincible… nothing can stop him. And that’s dangerous.” https://t.co/1k8uOjtO1m pic.twitter.com/9RDKsfEUY0
— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) May 12, 2026
The footage also included comments from another administration official, Maxim Lott, who currently serves as a special assistant on domestic policy inside the White House.
Lott described parts of the administration’s internal process as “chaotic” and suggested lower-level officials sometimes make decisions based on what they believe Trump would support politically.
“The government right now is a little bit uncontrolled,” Lott said in the recording.
He also claimed some policy decisions are made based more on instinct and political popularity than detailed policy analysis.
Advertisement
“There’s no like, ‘Oh well, this will cost $10 million but save people $20 million,’” Lott said. “There’s like nothing like that, it’s just, ‘this feels like a good idea’ or ‘the base supports this.’”
Unlike Ellisten, however, Lott publicly defended himself after the recordings surfaced and insisted his comments had been taken out of context.
“I went out with an individual I thought was a genuine person, but it goes to show how insidious politics and this city can be,” Lott said in a statement after being contacted by O’Keefe’s team. “Nothing I said was contradictory of this Administration, and I remain fully committed to carrying out its agenda.”
As of Monday evening, there was no indication that Lott had been suspended or disciplined.
The episode marks the latest undercover operation targeting federal employees during Trump’s second administration. O’Keefe and allied investigative groups have increasingly focused on exposing internal dissent within government agencies, particularly among career officials and political appointees viewed as insufficiently loyal to Trump’s agenda.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly argued that internal resistance from bureaucrats, intelligence officials, and political appointees undermined large parts of his first administration. Since returning to office, the administration has aggressively pushed to root out officials viewed as hostile to the president’s policies.
This article may contain commentary
which reflects the author’s opinion.
