WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump replaced his beleaguered White House chief
of staff, Reince Priebus, after only six months on the job on Friday,
installing retired General John Kelly in his place in a major shake-up of his
top team.
Trump announced
the move in a tweet a day after his new communications director, Anthony
Scaramucci, accused Priebus of leaking information to reporters in a
profanity-laced tirade.
Kelly, 67, a
retired four-star Marine Corps general, is currently secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security and will assume the chief of staff post on
Monday. He was hired with the goal of bringing more discipline to the White
House, a senior White House official said.
Trump issued
his decision just as he landed aboard Air Force One after a visit to Long
Island and hours after Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare failed in the
Senate.
Priebus was
on the plane with the Republican president and made no comment. Reporters had
noticed no sign of stress from Priebus during the day.Priebus told CNN he had
been talking to Trump for some time about exiting the White House, and is the
latest in a long line of officials to leave or not take a job at the White
House.
"The
president has a right to hit a reset button. I think it's time to hit the reset
button," Priebus said in a televised interview from the White House.
"He intuitively determined that it was time to do something different, and
I think he's right."
Trump had
lost confidence in Priebus, privately questioning his competence after major
legislative items failed to pass the U.S. Congress, a Trump confidant said.
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