President Trump has pushed out Reince Priebus, his chief of staff. He’ll be replaced by John F. Kelly, DHS secretary. Did Reince quit, or was he fired? Conflicting reports at this early moment of big news.
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
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
And then there’s this:
Reince tells me he resigned yesterday.
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) July 28, 2017
"I resigned privately yesterday," Reince Priebus tells me.
— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) July 28, 2017
From the NYT:
Reince Priebus, the establishment Republican-turned-loyalist to President Trump who served as his White House chief of staff for the last six months, was pushed out on Fridayin the latest convulsion in a chaos-wracked West Wing to which he had repeatedly failed to bring some semblance of order.
Convinced that Mr. Priebus was not strong enough, Mr. Trump has been talking about bringing in “a general” as chief of staff and chose John F. Kelly, the retired Marine four-star general serving as secretary of homeland security. But some of his advisers oppose that idea, arguing that Mr. Trump needs someone more in tune with the nationalist political movement that helped propel him to the White House.
Mr. Priebus, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, lost his job just hours after the president’s signature drive to repeal his predecessor’s health care program collapsed on the Senate floor and a day after an ugly feud with the new communications director erupted in a public airing of the deep animosities plaguing the White House.
DHS now short its secretary. Looks like the Senate will have another big nomination to handle.
— Emma Loop (@LoopEmma) July 28, 2017
How it ends: @Reince left alone in a suburban on Andrew @usairforce base tarmac as rest of motorcade departs, per @joshgerstein pool report. pic.twitter.com/pFMK5PEZ8K
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) July 28, 2017
"Reince is a good man," Pres told press pool at @JBA_NAFW. "John Kelly will do a fantastic job."
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 28, 2017
This is indeed how it went down. Looked like Priebus departed for home while the rest of us head to the White House. https://t.co/IXt8lWliru
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) July 28, 2017
The WH that HATES LEAKS leaked this anonymously before it happened.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 28, 2017
"Hello, Reince? Hey, it's Bob Mueller."
— Cody Keenan (@codykeenan) July 28, 2017
… from david remnick in the @newyorker. so… that's now two out of five. https://t.co/PsulXTFCPu pic.twitter.com/EoycuulfT9
— fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) July 28, 2017
? https://t.co/wj0oyBfGCk pic.twitter.com/4bhbHhDWzf
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) July 28, 2017
The Senate confirmation hearings for a new Homeland Security Secretary could be brutal.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 28, 2017
Cernovich had Reince's departure two hours ago. https://t.co/gQL04sYKHV
— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) July 28, 2017
A career federal government employee, Elaine Duke, is the deputy secretary of DHS, confirmed in April. She will be the acting DHS secretary. pic.twitter.com/O9Kpqph3Qk
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) July 28, 2017
By putting Gen John Kelly in charge, Pres Trump is militarizing the White House & putting our executive branch in the hands of an extremist.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) July 28, 2017
Roger Stone called it on Tuesday. https://t.co/PDB4UWuij8
— Kurtis Lee (@kurtisalee) July 28, 2017
NOTE: Under the executive order setting the order of succession at DHS, tho, Trump could name anyone else eligible under the Vacancies Act.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) July 28, 2017
Asked about his new chief of staff, Trump said: "Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job." https://t.co/swzyNQyxps pic.twitter.com/P6VKa3TgBu
— POLITICO (@politico) July 28, 2017
He is going to fire Mueller. https://t.co/mzvRcWrptY
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) July 28, 2017
And Mooch did tell @RyanLizza Wednesday night Priebus would be asked to resign shortly. Priebus resigned privately yesterday.
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) July 28, 2017