Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump tweeted that Ret. Gen. John Kelly is the new White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus in the role.
“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,” Trump said in a series of tweets 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….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
Kelly has already been working in the Trump administration, serving as the secretary of homeland security.
No formal announcement has been made about whether or not Priebus resigned or was fired from the position, though Trump thanked him for “his service” in a tweet.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
The personnel shift came amid growing acrimony inside the White House, which was made public most clearly when new communications director Anthony Scaramucci called a reporter for The New Yorker and gave a series of expletive-ridden criticisms of Priebus, among others.
“Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to resign very shortly,” Scaramucci told reporter Ryan Lizza, according to The New Yorker article.
“Reince is a f—— paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci said, the article states.
The day before The New Yorker article was published, Scaramucci posted a tweet, which he later deleted, where he tagged Priebus and wrote that he would be contacting the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate leaking.
Priebus was one of the members of President Donald Trump’s senior staff who had the most experience working in Washington politics, having previously served as the Republican National Committee chairman before joining the Trump team during the transition.
He had ties to key members of the Republican Party, like House Speaker and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan, but his support base within the White House is believed to have eroded in recent weeks. Katie Walsh, who served as Priebus’ deputy chief of staff at the White House, left in March, and on July 21, press secretary Sean Spicer resigned. Both Walsh and Spicer worked with Priebus at the RNC.
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