Trump denies that he's having trouble finding a chief of staff
By CAITLIN OPRYSKO
President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that he's having no trouble finding a new chief of staff, despite having already burned through two such top aides and being turned down by his reported first choice.
“Fake News has it purposely wrong. Many, over ten, are vying for and wanting the White House Chief of Staff position. Why wouldn’t someone want one of the truly great and meaningful jobs in Washington,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “Please report news correctly. Thank you!”
Trump’s rebuttals come as his current chief of staff, John Kelly, is set to depart the White House at the end of the month without a clear replacement. The president’s rumored top pick, vice presidential chief of staff Nick Ayers, turned the job down in favor of working for a PAC to support the administration.
Trump is also said to have looked at Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who was considered to be angling for the job at one point but who may now have his eye on leading the Commerce Department; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has said he’s happy in his current post; conservative firebrand Rep. Mark Meadows, who said Monday he would be “honored” to take the role; and New York Yankees President Randy Levine, who said Monday that rumors of his consideration had come out of left field.
But there are fears in Washington that while the chief of staff position was once a springboard to higher power, Trump’s divisiveness and his refusal to be corralled has corroded the reputation of the president’s top adviser.
While previous White House chiefs of staff have gone on to high-ranking cabinet positions like defense secretary or CIA director or have successfully run for higher office like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Trump’s first chief of staff Reince Priebus was reportedly mocked behind Trump’s back and ultimately sidelined before being deserted on a rainy airport tarmac.
Kelly has also seen his influence diminished in the White House as he failed to tame Trump’s more impulsive side and spent much of his tenure defending his seemingly exasperated body language and reports that he once called the president an “idiot.”
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