Top Story

Priebus Out, Kelly In As White House Chief of Staff

99

President Trump dismissed Reince Priebus as chief of staff on Friday, announcing on Twitter that he picked Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new top aide.

The dramatic move comes amidst a long-simmering feud between Priebus and new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who lambasted him in an interview with The New Yorker this week.

Speaking to reporters, Trump called Priebus a “good man” but called Kelly a “star.”

“Reince is a good man,” he said at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C., after a trip to New York to talk about his push to end gang violence.

“John Kelly will do a fantastic job. Gen. Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great American,” he said.

Trump announced the decision on Twitter as his plane landed at Andrews.

Kelly will start on Monday, when there will be a Cabinet meeting, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the White House.

Trump and Priebus have been talking for two weeks about his exit, Sanders indicated, adding that Kelly and Trump have been talking about the move “for a while.”

Priebus on Friday had initially gotten into a van at Andrews with White House policy adviser Stephen Miller and White House social media director Dan Scavino on the tarmac, but shortly after the two men left the van and left Priebus alone, according to the White House pool.

The former chief of staff’s car then pulled out of the president’s motorcade and left while Trump remained on Air Force One.

The former Republican National Committee chairman’s dismissal marks the end to a tumultuous bid where he clashed with top advisors, most recently Scaramucci.

Priebus had initially tried to block Scaramucci from an earlier post in the White House. But last week, Trump appointed him to lead the White House press shop over objections from Priebus and then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Spicer resigned as a result of that hire.

Scaramucci had initially tried to dismiss any reports of a soured relationship with Priebus, but that facade crumbled when The New Yorker published his profanity-filled screed against Priebus and other White House aides.

In that interview, he called Priebus a “f—ing paranoid schizophrenic,” intimated that Priebus had been leaking to reporters, and said that Priebus will be “asked to resign very shortly.”

This week has been tough on the White House even outside of that salacious interview, as Priebus’s departure comes less than a day after the Republican push to repeal ObamaCare collapsed in the Senate early Friday morning.

TheHill

 

Leave a comment

Related Articles

Just In: Delta military killings: DHQ declares Prof. Arthur, Amagben, six others wanted

The Defence Headquarters has declared eight people wanted over the recent killing...

Just in: Soneye, NNPC Ltd.’s spokesman, wins NIPR’s Distinguished Spokesperson Award

Mr. Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company...

Pres. Tinubu pays last respect to 17 soldiers murdered in Delta State

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday extended scholarships to the children of the...

Just in: Bodies of 17 slain gallant soldiers arrive at Abuja military cemetery for burial

The bodies of the 17 military personnel slain recently at Okuama, Delta...

Kidnappers ‘ll be treated as terrorists, they are cowards going after soft targets – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has called for treating those involved in kidnapping as...

Just In: Again, CBN increases interest rate to 24.75 percent

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)...

U.S. bridge collapses after cargo ship collision, casualties feared

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore collapsed...

Ease of doing business: NPA MD begins new week working on TinCan Port access road

As part of efforts aimed at consolidating the gains recorded in the...

Just in: How detained Binance Executive Anjarwalla outwits security officials, bolts from custody in Abuja

One of the two Binance executives detained in Abuja for alleged tax...

Breaking: FG files tax evasion charges against Binance

The Federal Government has slammed a four-count charge against Binance, a prominent...

Just in: After 17 days in kidnappers’ den, 287 Kaduna primary school children released

After 17 days in captivity, the 287 Kuriga school children, who were...

In Delta again, six cops shot fatally, six more missing

Barely a week after 17 soldiers including four senior officers were brutally...

Moscow’s terrorist attack: Death toll rises to 115

The Russian investigative committee said at least 115 people have died after...

Water scarcity can fuel conflicts around the world, UN warns

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has warned that...

Insecurity: 16 Nigerian governors endorse state police, constitution review in memos to FG

Amid rising insecurity in the country, the call for state police has...

Transparency, Research, Innovation Driving NNPC Ltd.’s Transformation – EVP Gas, Power, & New Energy

The Executive Vice President, Gas, Power, and New Energy of the Nigerian...

Cost of governance: Tinubu goes tough, slams no-foreign-travel ban on ministers, others for three months

With effect from April 1, 2024, ministers, heads of agencies, and other...

CJN to receive N5.39m monthly, other justices N4.21m as Reps pass judicial officers’ salaries bill

Following the approval of an upward review of the salaries, allowances, and...

FG identifies 15 BDCs, other funders of terrorism, plans sanctions 

The Federal Government says it has identified 15 organizations and persons who...

Murders of 17 officers, soldiers at Okuoma: Tinubu meets with Delta Gov. Oborevwori in Aso Rock

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori visited President Bola Tinubu at the Aso...