Trump tells Meadows he won’t be next top aide

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday told Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. — one of his leading congressional allies and a contender for White House chief of staff — that he would like Meadows to remain on Capitol Hill, taking the conservative lawmaker out of con- tention to fill a top position that will soon be vacated by John Kelly.

“The president told him we need him in Congress, so he can continue the great work he is doing there,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

Trump spent much of Wednesday speaking privately with friends and senior aides about dozens of candidates, including Meadows, as he tries to narrow down a list that has expanded ever since Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, bowed out of consideration over the weekend.