Kelly latest senior official to depart White House

White House chief of staff John Kelly will be leaving by the end of the year, US President Donald Trump announced Saturday. That will make him the latest top official to exit the US leader's inner circle.

Dozens of White House aides -- from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to press secretary Sean Spicer to chief of staff Reince Priebus -- have either left or been sacked from their posts since Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, has been credited with helping restore a degree of order to the often-chaotic Trump White House.

But in the process he clashed with members of the Trump clan, and at times infuriated Democrats with his blunt comments.

Trump, who once said he wanted his aide to stay with him until the presidential election year of 2020, had made it clear of late that the relationship had chilled. “At some point he’s going to want to move on,” the president said in mid-November.

Indeed, Kelly, 68, made it clear he did not always love the job — one of the most vital in any White House, quipping, “God punished me, I guess.”

Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, was the first member of the Senate to back Trump’s insurgent bid in 2015 for the Republican presidential nomination.

After winning the presidency, Trump rewarded Sessions by naming him to head the Department of Justice.

But relations between the two quickly soured after Sessions recused himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected.

 

Kelly latest senior official to depart White House

White House chief of staff John Kelly will be leaving by the end of the year, US President Donald Trump announced Saturday. That will make him the latest top official to exit the US leaders inner circle. Dozens of White House aides -- from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to press secretary Sean Spicer to chief of staff Reince Priebus -- have either left or been sacked from their posts since Trump took office on January 20, 2017. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, has been credited with helping restore a degree of order to the often-chaotic Trump White House. But in the process he clashed with members of the Trump clan, and at times infuriated Democrats with his blunt comments. Trump, who once said he wanted his aide to stay with him until the presidential election year of 2020, had made it clear of late that the relationship had chilled. At some point hes going to want to move on, the president said in mid-November. Indeed, Kelly, 68, made it clear he did not always love the job one of the most vital in any White House, quipping, God punished me, I guess. Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, was the first member of the Senate to back Trumps insurgent bid in 2015 for the Republican presidential nomination. After winning the presidency, Trump rewarded Sessions by naming him to head the Department of Justice. But relations between the two quickly soured after Sessions recused himself from Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected.