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Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, the president removed Mr. Sondland as ambassador to the European Union after the White House earlier on Friday dismissed Colonel Vindman.
WASHINGTON — President Trump wasted little time on Friday opening a campaign of retribution against those he blames for his impeachment, firing two of the most prominent witnesses in the House inquiry against him barely 48 hours after being acquitted by the Senate.
Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, Mr. Trump ordered Gordon D. Sondland, the founder of a hotel chain who donated $1 million to the president’s inaugural committee, recalled from his post as the ambassador to the European Union on the same day that Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, a decorated Iraq war veteran on the National Security Council staff, was marched out of the White House by security guards.
The ousters of Mr. Sondland and Colonel Vindman — along with Mr. Vindman’s brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an Army officer who also worked on the National Security Council staff — may only presage a broader effort to even accounts with the president’s perceived enemies. In the two days since his acquittal in the Senate, Mr. Trump has railed about those who stood against him, calling them “evil,” “corrupt” and “crooked,” while his press secretary declared that those who hurt the president “should pay for” it.
Even as he began purging administration officials who testified in the House impeachment inquiry, Mr. Trump assailed a Democratic senator who he had hoped would side with him during the trial but did not and called on the House to “expunge” his impeachment because he deems it illegitimate.
The flurry of actions and outbursts drew quick condemnation from Democrats, who said the president was demonstrating that he feels unleashed, and complicated the politics of impeachment for moderate Republicans who stood by him while arguing that he had learned his lesson and would be more restrained in the future.
“There is no question in the mind of any American why this man’s job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House,” David Pressman, Colonel Vindman’s lawyer, said in a statement. “Lt. Col. Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.”
Colonel Vindman spoke publicly only once, after being ordered to under subpoena, Mr. Pressman added. “And for that, the most powerful man in the world — buoyed by the silent, the pliable and the complicit — has decided to exact revenge.”
Mr. Sondland took a more measured approach, confirming that he had been dismissed without offering any protest.
“I was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately as United States ambassador to the European Union,” he said in a statement hours after Colonel Vindman’s dismissal. “I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary Pompeo for his consistent support and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union.”
Mr. Sondland and Colonel Vindman were key witnesses in the House impeachment hearings. Mr. Sondland, who was deeply involved in the effort to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into Mr. Trump’s Democratic rivals, testified that “we followed the president’s orders” and that “everyone was in the loop.” Colonel Vindman, who was on Mr. Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president, testified that it was “improper for the president” to coerce a foreign country to investigate a political opponent.
It may have been untenable for them to keep working for a president with whom they broke so publicly, but the White House made no effort to portray the ousters as anything other than reprisals. Mr. Trump foreshadowed Colonel Vindman’s fate hours ahead of time when asked if he would be pushed out. “Well, I’m not happy with him,” the president told reporters. “You think I’m supposed to be happy with him? I’m not.”
The president continued to assail lawmakers who voted for conviction, targeting Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who bitterly disappointed Mr. Trump by sticking with his party. “I was told by many that Manchin was just a puppet for Schumer & Pelosi,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “That’s all he is!”
Even as Mr. Trump flew to North Carolina to highlight his economic record, he called on the House to “expunge” his impeachment, an idea with no precedent or basis in the Constitution. “They should because it was a hoax,” he told reporters. “It was a total political hoax.” And he accused Ms. Pelosi of committing a crime by ripping up a copy of his State of the Union address. “She broke the law,” he asserted.
The president’s critics had warned that he would feel unbound if acquitted, and some said the dismissals proved their point, quickly calling them “the Friday night massacre,” as Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, put it.
“These are the actions of a man who believes he is above the law,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the lead House impeachment manager. Mr. Schumer said the White House was running from the truth. “This action is not a sign of strength,” he said. “It only shows President Trump’s weakness.” Ms. Pelosi said, “This goes too far.” At the Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. asked the audience to stand in support of Colonel Vindman.
The White House would not discuss the Vindman decision. “We do not comment on personnel matters,” said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, celebrated the dismissals, offering mock thanks to Mr. Schiff. “Were it not for his crack investigation skills, @realDonaldTrump might have had a tougher time unearthing who all needed to be fired,” he tweeted.
“The president had every right to make the moves that he did today,” Representative Lee Zeldin, Republican of New York, said in an interview. “Moving Lt. Col. Vindman, for example, is a good move based on the fact that there is a lack of trust. He disagrees with the president’s policies.” As for Mr. Sondland, “the president can recall an ambassador at any time with or without cause, and in the case of Gordon Sondland, the guy was a hot mess, anyway.”
Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, expressed no regrets over Mr. Sondland’s dismissal. “Somehow I think America will be able to deliver foreign policy without Gordon Sondland,” he said by text message.
Other witnesses have left with less drama recently. Marie L. Yovanovitch, the ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled from her post last spring because she was seen as an obstacle to the president’s plans, retired last month from the Foreign Service. William B. Taylor Jr., who replaced her in an acting capacity, was essentially brought back early, as well. And Jennifer Williams, a career official working for Vice President Mike Pence, quietly returned to the Defense Department.
Several had already left government, like Fiona Hill, the Europe policy chief at the National Security Council, and Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy for Ukraine, who resigned days before testifying. But others remain, including George P. Kent at the State Department, Laura Cooper at the Defense Department and David Holmes at the embassy in Ukraine.
Mr. Sondland began discussions with senior officials about leaving shortly after he testified in November, according to two people briefed on the matter. He believed that remaining would be unrealistic given his role in impeachment and hoped to exit gracefully.
A decision on timing was postponed until after impeachment, but on Friday, State Department officials told Mr. Sondland that they wanted him to resign, the people said. Mr. Sondland relayed to them that he would not step down amid what was clearly a purge of impeachment witnesses and that he would have to be fired, they said. In response, State Department officials recalled him.
Colonel Vindman’s brother seemed to be collateral damage. Yevgeny Vindman, who goes by Eugene, worked as a lawyer for the National Security Council and had no role in the impeachment hearings other than showing up to sit behind his brother when he appeared in November. He was given no explanation for his dismissal “despite over two decades of loyal service to this country,” said Mr. Pressman, the lawyer. “He deeply regrets that he will not be able to continue his service at the White House.”
Both Vindmans, whose White House tours were scheduled to last until July, will retain their Army ranks and return to military service. Alexander Vindman, who had been expecting the move and had begun removing personal items, was told he would go to the Pentagon before moving to the National War College in July as originally planned. Yevgeny Vindman was more surprised and was told he would report to the office of the Army general counsel.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said service members who return to the military would be welcomed back. “We protect all of our persons, service members, from retribution or anything like that,” he told reporters.
Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has made clear his personal antipathy for both Vindmans. “Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and his twin brother, right?” he said on Thursday during a rambling hourlong venting session at the White House, his voice dripping with disdain. “We had some people that — really amazing.”
On Friday, Mr. Trump retweeted a message from a supporter advocating Alexander Vindman’s dismissal: “Vindman’s behavior is a scandal. He should be removed from the @RealDonaldTrump White House ASAP to protect our foreign policy from his machinations.”
Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who voted to acquit the president but expressed hope that he would learn a lesson from the impeachment, said witnesses should not be punished. “I obviously am not in favor of any kind of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence,” she said in Maine, according to The Portland Press Herald.
Colonel Vindman has been subjected to virulent attacks on his patriotism on Fox News and social media. The president called him a “Never Trumper,” a term the colonel rejected. Fox aired a segment suggesting his service in the White House might amount to “espionage.” And Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, attacked him on Twitter: “How patriotic is it to badmouth and ridicule our great nation in front of Russia, America’s greatest enemy?”
With impeachment over, Mr. Trump is debating additional personnel changes. Some advisers are encouraging him to part ways with his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who was involved in freezing security aid to Ukraine, which paved the way for impeachment.
Other advisers are telling Mr. Trump to delay major changes until after the November election. Some hope that Representative Mark Meadows, Republican of North Carolina, will join the White House as a senior adviser. Mr. Meadows traveled with the president on Friday to North Carolina.
Mr. Trump denied that Mr. Mulvaney would be pushed out in favor of Mr. Meadows. “I have a great relationship with Mick,” the president told reporters on Friday. “I have a great relationship with Mark. And it’s false.”
Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman and Danny Hakim from New York. Lola Fadulu contributed reporting from Charlotte, N.C.
