We’re getting truly conflicting reports today about John Kelly possibly leaving the White House this summer:
Friends of @WhiteHouse COS John Kelly tell me that he has no plans to leave the White House-hasn't even talked about it. Other sources say they expect Kelly to leave by the 1st week of August – OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and VPOTUS COS Nick Ayers leading candidates to take over
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) June 28, 2018
The WSJ first reported it and Axios says they have sources confirming it:
President Trump is consulting with advisers about replacing Chief of Staff John Kelly, the WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus and Peter Nicholas first reported.
What we’re hearing: Sources with direct knowledge of the situation have confirmed to me what the Wall Street Journal first reported — that Trump has told people he’s interested in Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, or Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, to replace Kelly.
They also note that it’s difficult to report with 100% accuracy on staffing changes in the White House.
So who knows that the truth is on this, but we’ll bring you any more news on it when we get it.
UPDATE: Just as a reminder, back in March the WSJ reported that Trump wanted to get rid of John Kelly. They apparently made a ‘truce’ and Trump said Kelly was 100% safe.
So maybe Kelly himself isn’t planning on leaving, but Trump is going to fire him?
Time will tell…