I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen reports in recent months about John Kelly’s imminent ouster as White House chief of staff, but in each instance, the retired general stuck around. That changed over the weekend, when Donald Trump announced that Kelly is stepping down at the end of the month.
Finding his successor is proving to be a little tricky — the president claimed this morning that more than 10 contenders are vying for the post, though no one seriously believes that — after Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence’s outgoing chief of staff, turned Trump down. There was no Plan B.
While the drama continues to unfold, the New York Times included a detail I hadn’t seen elsewhere:
To make room for Mr. Ayers, Mr. Trump, who famously avoids one-on-one interpersonal conflict, had been trying for awhile to pull the trigger on firing Mr. Kelly. Famous for the “You’re fired!” catchphrase and also for hating confrontation, Mr. Trump had looked for others to do the work for him last week — even attempting to arrange for Mr. Ayers to fire Mr. Kelly — according to three people familiar with the events.
The anecdote hasn’t been confirmed by MSNBC or NBC News, but it’s also very easy to believe given this president’s track record.
When Trump wanted to fire former FBI Director James Comey, the president dispatched his former bodyguard to deliver a letter to FBI headquarters while Comey was out of town. When Trump wanted to oust former White House Counsel Don McGahn, the president announced the move via Twitter — before breaking the news to McGahn.









