Trump Dismisses 2 T.V.A. Board Members After Outsourcing Dispute

WASHINGTON — President Trump abruptly announced on Monday the firing of two members of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors and demanded that the electric utility’s chief executive reverse what he said was a decision to outsource workers to other countries.

The president’s announcement came during a White House meeting in which he signed an executive order seeking to ensure that the government hired Americans. Mr. Trump said that Jeff Lyash, the utility’s chief executive, was “ridiculously overpaid. He earns $8 million a year.” The president said he was also removing James Thompson, the board chairman, and Richard Howarth, another board member, to show his opposition to the outsourcing decision.

Mr. Trump then vowed a continued purge of the rest of the utility’s board if it continued with its plan.

“If the T.V.A. does not move swiftly to reverse their decision to rehire their workers, then more board members will be removed,” he said.