After a few days of speculation, Donald Trump confirmed that his chief of staff John Kelly would be leaving his position at the end of the month.
He is now the second chief of staff to leave the White House since Trump became president in January 2017 and 28th person to leave the administration overall.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Saturday, Trump said:
John Kelly will be leaving… I don’t know if I can say ‘retiring'.
We’ll be announcing who will be taking John’s place, it might on an interim basis.
Kelly and Trump haven't always seen eye-to-eye and there have been multiple stories about tensions between the two ever since Kelly replaced Reince Priebus in July 2017.
One of the defining features of his time in the White House will be the constant despair on his face whenever Trump was giving a public speech.
That being said, his resignation is hardly a shock as the Trump administration seems to operate on a revolving door policy, with new faces virtually coming and going every day.
News of Kelly's impending resignation soon started to circulate on Twitter and it's fair to say that not many people will miss him.
How does a man like John Kelly, who spent years serving his country, stand by and do nothing while a dangerous, inc… https://t.co/uPgLikI86J— Nate Lerner (@Nate Lerner) 1544319191
John Kelly’s, in many ways, more disappointing than Trump. Trump is supposed to be an amoral white supremacist. Kel… https://t.co/4amMTFlKhX— Bryan Behar (@Bryan Behar) 1544326179
A few jokes were made about his exasperated expressions.
Some did try to defend him and his attempts to derail some Trump policies.
Whatever one thinks of John Kelly as WH COS, I suspect it’s underappreciated how often Kelly, working with others l… https://t.co/rl13QV9t6R— Bill Kristol (@Bill Kristol) 1544295566
Let's not forget the most notorious policy that he oversaw during his tenure.
John Kelly is resigning to spend more time separating families https://t.co/mGfioLRvew— Dan Trombly (@Dan Trombly) 1544194374
As pundits & Republicans begin their parting praise for John Kelly as “a force for order, clarity, & good sense” as… https://t.co/t8D3OtQGmm— Scott Hechinger (@Scott Hechinger) 1544326499
Never forget #JohnKelly •put brown kids in cages •authored the trans ban •promoted the #MuslimBan •lied about… https://t.co/5YyugdWDIo— Victoria Brownworth (@Victoria Brownworth) 1544298382
John Kelly was instrumental in: —instituting the child-separation policy at the border —spreading pro-Trump propaga… https://t.co/1asIawUEfm— Pé (@Pé) 1544297283
There is a chance that we could be seeing him pop up again in the very near future.
Kevin Hart for White House Chief of Staff— Max Weiss (@Max Weiss) 1544294140
HT Daily Dot