President Trump names Sec. Kelly as new chief of staff
President Trump late
Friday replaced his embattled chief of staff Reince Priebus with Homeland
Security Secretary John Kelly, the decorated retired general who had been
leading his administration’s charge on immigration enforcement.
The seismic shake-up capped
another rollercoaster week in the West Wing, rocked by the public clash between
Priebus and new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. The
latter's hiring prompted press secretary Sean Spicer to resign in protest one
week ago and immediately touched off speculation that Priebus could be
next.
White House sources
confirmed to Fox News that Priebus, the former Republican National Committee
chairman, resigned secretly on Thursday.
“It has been one of the
greatest honors of my life to serve this president and our country,” Priebus
said in a statement. “I want to thank the president for giving me this very
special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the
president's agenda and policies.”
He added, “I can't think
of a better person than Gen. John Kelly to succeed me and I wish him God's
blessings and great success.”
Trump made the
announcement publicly on Twitter late Friday afternoon.
"I am pleased to
inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House
Chief of Staff. 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 tweeted.
___________
I am pleased to inform
you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief
of Staff. 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.
____________
Kelly, a retired Marine
general, formerly commanded the United States Southern Command.
"I have been
fortunate to have served my country for more than 45 years - first as a Marine
and then as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security," Kelly
said in a statement. "I am honored to be asked to serve as the chief of
staff to the President of the United States."
The selection of Kelly
was greeted with praise on Capitol Hill.
“Secretary Kelly is one
of the strongest and most natural leaders I’ve ever known,” said South Carolina
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has sparred with the president in the past. “As a
Marine Corps officer, he instilled loyalty, respect and admiration from all who
served under him.”
Speaking to reporters,
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders cited Kelly’s role at the Department
of Homeland Security in working to reduce illegal immigration.
“He has helped seal the
border and reduced illegal immigration by 70 percent,” Sanders said. “He is
respected by everyone, especially the people at the Department of Homeland
Security.”
Sanders said Kelly will
be sworn in on Monday, when he begins his new job.
Priebus was traveling
with the president on Friday. Reporters spotted Priebus getting in a car after
Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews.
"Reince is a good
man,” Trump told reporters at Andrews. “John Kelly will do a fantastic job.
General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by
everybody. He's a great, great American. Reince is a good man."
A day earlier,
Scaramucci was quoted in
a New Yorker story using profanity as he bashed Priebus and seemed to accuse
him of leaking to reporters.
“Reince is a f---ing
paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci was quoted saying.
After that story’s
publication, Scaramucci didn’t deny the comments or apologize. He tweeted that
he "made a mistake in trusting in a reporter.”
“I sometimes use
colorful language,” he said. “I will refrain in this arena but not give up the
passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump's agenda.”
In an interview with
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday evening, Priebus said he had been discussing the
prospect of resigning with the president “for a few days.”
“I think Gen. Kelly is a
brilliant pick,” Priebus said, noting he would help Kelly with the transition
for several weeks.
Priebus said he was
leaving on good terms with the president.
“This is not like a
situation where there’s a bunch of ill-will feelings. This is, I think, good
for the president. I think it’s smart for him to pick Gen. Kelly. And I think
that things are going to be run very well,” he said.
Priebus declined to
discuss Scaramucci’s comments about him. “I’m not going to respond to it,” he
said. “I’m not going to get into the mud on those sorts of things.”
Asked if he was a
leaker, he said: “That’s ridiculous, Wolf, come on. I’m not going to get into
his accusations.”
Priebus said he planned
to take some vacation time with his family, but that he’d continue to support
the president.
“I’m always going to be
a Trump fan,” he said. “I’m on Team Trump. And I look forward to helping him
achieve his goals and his agenda for the American people.”
Both Priebus and Spicer
worked together at the Republican National Committee before joining the
administration. Another White House press aide who worked with Priebus and
Spicer at the RNC, Michael Short, who was also forced out of his job this week.
At 189 days, Priebus had
the shortest tenure of any chief of staff in modern history who was not serving
in an interim capacity or leaving with their president. The position was
formally established in 1946.
Fox News' Alex Pappas
and Serafin Gomez contributed to this report.
