Trump tweets that John Kelly is doing a 'fantastic job' amid report that the relationship between them is 'past the point of no return'

pulse

January 23, 2018 3:51 PM

President Donald Trump tweeted a message of confidence about his chief of staff following reporting that the president is looking to replace him.

President Donald Trump tweeted a message of confidence about his chief of staff, John Kelly, following reporting that the president is looking to replace his top aide.
"Long hours and Fake reporting makes your job more difficult, but it is always great to WIN, and few have won more than us!" Trump wrote on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump tweeted a message of confidence about his chief of staff, John Kelly, on Tuesday morning, a day after Vanity Fair reported that the president's relationship with his top aide had "gone past the point of no return" after recent clashes over immigration policy.

"Thank you to General John Kelly, who is doing a fantastic job, and all of the Staff and others in the White House, for a job well done," Trump wrote. "Long hours and Fake reporting makes your job more difficult, but it is always great to WIN, and few have won more than us!"

On Monday, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reported that the president is considering candidates to replace Kelly and that Ivanka Trump, his eldest daughter and top White House adviser, is leading the search effort.

Kelly, who replaced former chief of staff Reince Priebus in July, has sought to bring stability to an Oval Office that has seen record-high turnover and constant drama during its first year.

Once implanted in Trump's circle, the former four-star Marine Corps general reportedly earned the nickname "Church Lady" for his attempts to moderate traffic in the West Wing and introduce military-inspired discipline to a freewheeling White House.

Trump, who is known to react badly to reports that he's being managed, has reportedly been expressing increasing discontent with Kelly: "I've got another nut job here who thinks he's running things," Trump told a friend recently, according to Vanity Fair.

David Choi contributed reporting.

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