Sarah Sanders' tenure as press secretary ended long before her exit

“You’re fired!”

Donald Trump was joking when he barked these words at his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in April – on a night when both were snubbing the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Sarah Sanders exits after two fraught years as Trump hails 'a very fine woman'

Sanders had made a short speech as delighted crowd chanted her name. “She’s becoming too popular,” the president quipped. “Sarah, I’m jealous.”

The truth was that Sanders had, in effect, been fired some time ago –...