Donald Trump has said chief of staff John Kelly will leave his job by the year’s end amid an expected West Wing reshuffling.
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December 8 2018 7:51 PM
Donald Trump has said chief of staff John Kelly will leave his job by the year’s end amid an expected West Wing reshuffling.
It reflects a focus on the US president’s 2020 re-election campaign and the challenge of governing with Democrats reclaiming control in the House.
An announcement about Mr Kelly’s replacement is expected in the coming days, the president told reporters as he departed the White House for the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.
Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, is Mr Trump’s top choice to replace Mr Kelly and the two have held discussions for months about the job, a White House official said.
Mr Trump and Mr Ayers are working out specifics terms under which Mr Ayers would fill the role and the time commitment he will make, the official said.
Mr Trump wants his next chief of staff to agree to hold the job through the 2020 election.
Mr Ayers, who has young triplets, had long planned to leave the administration at the end of the year.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
The announcement on Saturday comes a day after Mr Trump named his picks for attorney general and ambassador to the United Nations, and two senior aides shifted from the White House to Mr Trump’s campaign.
Mr Kelly had been credited with imposing order on a chaotic West Wing after his arrival in June 2017 from his post as homeland security secretary.
His iron first also alienated some long-time Trump allies and he grew increasingly isolated, with a greatly diminished role.
Known through the West Wing as «the chief» or «the general», the retired Marine Corps four-star general was tapped by Mr Trump via a tweet to try to normalise a White House riven by infighting and competing power bases.
