WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Thursday he has no plans to quit or to be fired from his job despite rumors that US President Donald Trump is dissatisfied with his performance just months into the job.
“Although I read it all the time pretty consistently, I’m not quitting today,” Kelly told the White House press briefing during a rare media appearance by the former Marine general and homeland security secretary.
“I don’t believe, and I just talked to the president, I don’t think I’m being fired today. And I am not so frustrated in this job that I’m thinking of leaving.”
Trump named Kelly to White House chief of staff in late July as part of a staff shake-up as he ousted former chief of staff Reince Priebus. Kelly has reportedly sought to rein in operations at the White House, and Trump has already been forced to deny rumors that he could oust Kelly.
“The Chief is doing a FANTASTIC job for me and, more importantly, for the USA,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Kelly maintained he had not been brought into the job to control the president and said he was not frustrated by Trump’s frequent use of Twitter.
“I was not brought in to control him and you should not measure my effectiveness as chief of staff by what you think I should be doing,” Kelly said, rather his job was to be sure Trump was presented with well thought-out options that allow him to make the best decisions for the country.
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