John Kelly reportedly threatened to quit because he was so fed up with Trump

White House chief of staff John Kelly is reportedly so frustrated with President Donald Trump that he threatened to quit last month after blowing up at Trump in the Oval Office.
A senior administration official told Axios Kelly was just "venting frustration."
But Kelly was said to be angry enough that West Wing aides had to call his allies to calm him down.

The White House chief of staff, John Kelly, grew so frustrated with President Donald Trump last month that he threatened to quit, Axios reported Saturday.

According to the report, Kelly blew up at Trump during a private Oval Office meeting on March 28 and said he was going to quit as he was walking back to his office.

The Washington Post followed up with a longer story of its own on Saturday citing 16 sources, many unnamed, who said Kelly said, "I'm out of here, guys." Some thought that meant he was quitting, according to The Post, while others thought that meant he was just going home early.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly had to calm Kelly and give him "pep talks."

Around the time of the meeting, the White House was weathering a slew of scandals:

been fired
quit
$130,000 payment his personal lawyer made
target Amazon
imposed billions

After the Oval Office meeting, Kelly apparently went back to his office and packed up some of his personal belongings, though sources told Axios that it may not have been because he was getting ready to quit. A senior administration official also told the outlet that Kelly was not threatening to quit but was just "venting frustration."

The chief of staff, one of the few remaining bulwarks against Trump's most volatile instincts, was said to be so frustrated that his colleagues in the West Wing had to call some of his closest allies, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, to convince him not to walk out.

Trump called the Post report false in a tweet Sunday morning.

"The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact," the president tweeted. "Story after story is made up garbage - more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!"

Record turnover in the Trump administration

Kelly's reported threat comes as the White House faces an unprecedented rate of staff turnover.

turnover

Eliza Relman and Samantha Lee contributed reporting.

John Kelly reportedly threatened to quit because he was so fed up with Trump

Record turnover in the Trump administration

Enhance Your Pulse News Experience!

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!