Trump names John Kelly as new chief of staff, Reince Priebus replaced

President Trump on Friday ousted his White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and named his homeland security secretary, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, to replace him in a major shake-up for a West Wing beset by chaos and infighting.

With his legislative agenda stalled six months into his presidency, Trump became convinced that Priebus was a “weak” leader and had been lobbied intensely by rival advisers to remove Priebus, an establishment-aligned Republican who has long had friction with Trump’s inner-circle loyalists, according to White House officials.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff,” Trump tweeted on Friday afternoon. “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.”

The president added, “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!”

The announcement comes after deep personal animus between Priebus and Anthony Scaramucci, newly appointed as White House communications director, burst into public view Thursday when Scaramucci accused the chief of staff of leaking damaging information about him to the news media.

Allies to Priebus said he told them he had resigned on Thursday, concluding that the internal chaos would only escalate. But some White House officials said Priebus was forced out on Friday, noting that he presided over the morning senior staff meeting and accompanied the president on Air Force One to a law enforcement event in New York.

Priebus, who as chairman of the Republican National Committee nurtured a close relationship with Trump during last year’s campaign, was named White House chief of staff to bring Washington experience to the administration of a political novice.

Part of Priebus’ pitch for the job was that he could use his long-standing relationships with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill — including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), a personal friend — to help pass Trump’s ambitious agenda, including major legislation on health care and taxes.

But Priebus became consumed by internal battles, clashing not only with Scaramucci but finding himself under siege by Trump advisers inside and outside of the White House who complained that he was ineffectual and more concerned with his own public image than the president’s.

After Scaramucci was named communications director last week against Priebus’ vehement objections, White House officials widely believed that Priebus’ position had become more imperiled.

Rumors of Priebus’ firing have circulated for months now. As one senior White House official put it, there was a “phony death march for six months.” But the dynamic changed over the past 10 days or so.

“It reached a fever pitch of the president complaining about Reince to all of us,” said this official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “If we heard it once, we heard it 20 times in the last week — this erosion of confidence. The word was ‘weak’ — ‘weak,’ ‘weak,’ ‘weak.’ ‘Can’t get it done.’”