A major shake up for Trump’s top team.
President Donald Trump replaced his beleaguered White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, after only six months on the job on Friday, installing retired General John Kelly in his place. Kelly is hired with a motive of bringing more discipline in White House as he is a retired four-star Marine Corps general and was most recently secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
New communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, accused Priebus of leaking information to reporters in a profanity-laced tirade. Trump had lost confidence in Priebus, privately questioning his competence after major legislative items failed to pass the U.S. Congress.
A senior White House official said Trump had informed Priebus two weeks ago that he would be replacing him and that the move had no connection to Scaramucci, whose hiring a week ago prompted Sean Spicer, a Priebus ally, to abruptly resign as press secretary.
Priebus’ 189-day tenure was the shortest in modern history for a White House chief of staff. He had hoped to stay on at least a year but struggled to manage his unpredictable boss and was unable to get a handle on conflicting factions in the White House who have frequently squabbled. Once he said that it had been one of the great honours of his life to serving Trump and the country. He said that he will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the president’s agenda and policies.
John Kelly will start from 1 August.