President Donald Trump’s administration has been wracked with near-weekly media reports since taking office about some top official or another on the verge of being about to be fired or retired.
Many of those reports have been aimed at White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a former Marine Corps general initially picked to head the Department of Homeland Security who shifted over to impose order in the chaotic White House that was formerly run by Reince Priebus.
According to National Review, Kelly is rumored to be leaving the White House yet again, this time by way of retirement that could be announced anytime between the end of this week and the end of next month.
That report came from the Wall Street Journal, which cited the typical anonymous sources who stated that Kelly only wanted to serve in his current role for about one year, which would be marked on July 31.
Trump is reportedly already in discussion with advisers as to who should follow Kelly in the hugely important chief of staff role, with front-runner candidates being Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, or Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who has also been whipping the corrupt Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into shape.
Of course, like many of the previous media reports alleging imminent personnel changes and palace intrigue, the White House has flatly denied the report put forward by the Journal as nothing more than “fake news.”
“I spoke to the president, who refuted this article. He said it is absolutely not true and that it is fake news,” stated White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters to reporters on board Air Force One on Thursday, according to the Washington Examiner.
According to Politico, Walters added, “I’ve also spoken to General Kelly, who said this was news to him.”
The Politico report noted how Kelly had initially imposed order in the wake of Priebus’ resignation during the chaotic 10-day tenure of Anthony Scaramucci as White House Communications Director, but alleged that he has eased up in his role as an “enforcer” as his relationship with Trump has reportedly soured.
Unsurprisingly, there are unnamed members of Trump’s administration and White House team who would prefer Kelly be gone, and those individuals are said to be working hard behind the scenes to expedite his departure.
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To be sure, there have been reports every few weeks or so for the past several months asserting that Kelly was on the verge of being fired or was about to quit and walk out, only for those reports to be debunked and dis-proven as “fake news” designed to perpetuate the “White House in chaos” narrative.
That said, it is entirely possible that Kelly is planning to exit the White House after serving a year in a rather strenuous role akin to herding cats in the White House, and if so, we thank him for his dutiful service to the nation and wish him the best of luck in his retirement.