Friday that she would challenge Mr. Stupak.)

Even when the Senate seemed to resolve the abortion issue in its health care bill, Mr. Stupak said the language was insufficient, irritating his colleagues. As the debate unfolded, he sided with Roman Catholic bishops who opposed the Senate language, rather than with nuns, who supported it. He said he did not listen to the nuns when it came to writing legislative language related to abortion.

But in the final hours before the last vote in March, Mr. Stupak and fellow anti-abortion Democrats supported the bill after President Obama agreed to sign an executive order outlining prohibitions against the use of federal money for abortion. At a news conference announcing his deal with the White House, Mr. Stupak said the bishops were unrealistican Iraq War veteran and was the top Ukraine policy officer on the National Security Council (NSC).

On Saturday Mr Trump tweeted that Vindman was being ousted due to "problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information".

"He was very insubordinate, reported contents of my ‘perfect’ calls incorrectly, & was given a horrendous report by his superior."

Mr Pressman said on Friday that the president had been "buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit" and had decided to "exact revenge".

Vindman’s twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, who was not involved in the impeachment hearings, was also fired from his role at the NSC.