President seeks replacements as chief of staff rumoured to be next to go
Donald Trump’s embattled Chief of Staff John Kelly could be the latest casualty of the President’s revolving door policy as the former reality TV star prepares to overhaul his communications team amid a string of staff departures.
In what has become a parlour game in Trump’s Washington, rumours swirled about Kelly’s fate as Trump sounded out allies on potential replacements for the retired four-star general. Kelly is credited with bringing order to the West Wing but also grates on the freewheeling president.
Two possible replacement have emerged, Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, and Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers.
The White House pushed on the notion that Kelly’s days in the West Wing were numbered when White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said she had spoken to Trump and Kelly, and said both disputed the reports.
Trump “said it is absolutely not true and that it is fake news. I’ve also spoken to General Kelly, who said this was news to him,” Walters said.
But the White House has previously denied talk of impending staff shake-ups that later came to pass.
Kelly has told confidants he has no plan to leave but would be happy if he made it to the one-year mark in the position, which would mean he stays until late July, around the time Trump is due in the UK.