TRUMP MOVE BRINGS MORE CHAOS
D ONALD Trump’s White House has been plunged into fresh turmoil, as the US president abruptly announced homeland security secretary John Kelly as his chief of staff, ending the tumultuous six-month tenure of Reince Priebus.
Mr Trump tweeted his decision as he landed in Washington after a speech in New York, in which he lavishly praised retired US Marines general Mr Kelly’s performance.
On Thursday, Mr Priebus, former Republican National Committee chief, was assailed in an astonishing foul-mouthed public rebuke by Mr Trump’s newly appointed White House communications director.
Mr Priebus said he had offered his resignation on Thursday and the president accepted.
Mr Priebus told CNN, just hours after his exit was announced, that he agreed the White House might well benefit from “a reset”, saying: “I’m always going to be a Trump fan.”
Mr Trump’s Twitter announcement said of John F Kelly “He is a Great American ... and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”
He also said: “I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!”
Mr Trump had focused on Mr Kelly in recent days, telling those close to him that he loved the general’s star power and believed military discipline was what his administration needed.
Mr Priebus could never bring order to the team of in-fighting rivals that populate the Trump West Wing, and questions about his future have long swirled around the office. Those questions sharply escalated this week with the arrival of Mr Scaramucci, the hard-charging communications director hired despite Mr Priebus’ objections.
Over the past two days the communications chief suggested in a late-night tweet that Mr Priebus was one of the “leakers” Mr Trump has railed against.
The New Yorker magazine published an interview on Thursday in which Mr Scaramucci called Mr Priebus, amid an avalanche of vulgarity, a “paranoid schizophrenic”.
Mr Priebus, from Wisconsin, had grown increasingly isolated as past Republican National Committee colleagues and other allies had left or been pushed out.
Mr Priebus, a political operative and lawyer, is expected to look for a corporate job or possibly write a book about his experience with Trump.
One of the final establishment Republicans in the White House, he was a frequent target of barbs from Mr Trump over not being an early backer of the celebrity businessman’s candidacy.
As homeland security secretary, Mr Kelly took the lead on some of Mr Trump’s most controversial policies, including his executive orders suspending the admission of refugees and temporarily barring visitors from several Muslim-majority nations, orders pending a Supreme Court review in the autumn.