TRUMP SEEKS NEW BLOOD TO DEFEND PRESIDENCY
The departure of Donald Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly is leaving many in Washington concerned that with “Mr Order” gone by the end of the year, the US president will be left to his worst instincts and lack of inhibition.
The retired four-star general was recruited to the position 17 months ago with the mission to restore discipline and a sense of normality to a chaos-riddled White House. The presidency was marred then by infighting and dysfunction between former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci and former chief of staff Reince Priebus, and by lack of direction on policy.
Mr Kelly succeeded to a great extent in building structured communications and a political operation in the presidential team.
At the beginning he played the role of gatekeeper to Mr Trump, filtering the flow of information, and limiting access – even to members of the Trump family – to the Oval Office. He also helped to force out campaign stars such as Steve Bannon, Omarosa Manigault and Sebastian Gorka, while bringing in more traditional conservative figures. This earned Mr Kelly credit among establishment Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, who saw in him a force of reason and moderation in the White House.
But Mr Kelly, who prides himself in not being an ideologue and staying neutral during the 2016 presidential election, is not a political operator. Unlike predecessors such as Rahm Emanuel and Andrew Card, the retired general is not a Washington insider and that was one reason for his departure as well as a growing rift between him and Mr Trump.
The New York Times reported that Mr Kelly agreed with Mr Trump to announce his departure today, but instead the US president reneged on the deal and broke the news on Saturday while chatting to reporters.
“John Kelly will be leaving towards the end of the year ... a great guy,” Mr Trump said. He then said that Mr Kelly’s successor will be announced in a matter of days.
A White House shake-up is not out of the ordinary after midterm elections, especially when the president’s party is faced with a major loss in one of the two chambers.
The Republicans lost 40 seats in the House of Representatives after the November 6 elections, and Mr Trump is reshuffling his team to bring in more-experienced hands to adjust to a Democratic majority in the House.
This new reality explains Mr Trump’s preference for Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, as a replacement for Mr Kelly. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Mr Trump told one of his associates on Thursday night: “Stop calling John [Kelly] for anything. Call Nick. He’s my guy.”
Mr Ayers, 36, is the antithesis in career and character to Mr Kelly, 68. Unlike the former general, Mr Ayers is a creature of electoral politics, a millionaire who made his fortune through political consulting and being a known operator inside the Republican party. He is also close to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
While Mr Ayers is expected to be picked for the job, his appointment might only be temporary owing to his family’s plans to move to Georgia, according to The New York Times. And if Mr Trump chooses to go for someone who will stay until the presidential election in 2020, other names being floated include US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney.
Mr Mnuchin, according to Politico, is not interested in the position.
Another battle Mr Trump is stacking the decks for is the Mueller investigation. After firing his attorney general Jeff Sessions, Mr Trump is gathering experienced Republican political hands to face the legal fight. CNN reported that Mr Kelly was interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and the questions centred on potential obstruction of justice by Mr Trump.