Trump has reportedly tried to fire John Kelly, but fails because he usually uses Kelly to fire people
- President Donald Trump has reportedly attempted to fire White House chief of staff John Kelly, according to a bombshell interview with New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
- That effort has failed because Trump typically uses the retired Marine general to oust people, and didn't know who else to ask.
- Kelly has also reportedly ignored Trump during attempted dismissals.
- Trump repeatedly told Nuzzi he has no intention of firing Kelly in the near future.
President Donald Trump has reportedly attempted to fire White House chief of staff John Kelly, but has apparently failed because he typically uses Kelly to oust other people from his administration and didn't know who else to ask.
New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi had a private interview with Trump and other top members of his administration, including Kelly, on Tuesday.
Throughout the bizarre, freewheeling interview, Trump repeatedly sought to assure Nuzzi he has no intention to fire Kelly, rejecting various reports suggesting otherwise.
"General Kelly's doing a very good job," Trump told Nuzzi. "We have a very good relationship. The White House is running very, very smoothly."
Trump added, "The chief is doing a very good job. I'm very happy with him, we have a very good relationship, number one. Number two, I didn't offer anybody else the job. I didn't talk to anybody about the job. And I'm not, I'm not looking."
The president claimed if he wanted Kelly to leave, he'd simply tell him it's "time to go."
"But you know what? I'm very happy with him. He's happy with me," Trump said of Kelly.
Trump also rejected rumors he'd offered Kelly's job to Nick Ayers, who currently serves as the vice president's chief of staff.
But Nuzzi said a Trump administration official told her the only reason Kelly still has his job is due to "dumb luck" and the president's short attention span.
The official seemed to suggest Trump has actually attempted to fire Kelly, but the retired Marine general reportedly just ignored him. There's also the fact Trump typically uses Kelly to fire people, the administration official told Nuzzi, so he doesn't know who to call upon to get rid of Kelly.
"When the president says, 'I need you to leave,' Kelly just ignores him," the administration official said. "I think the president just doesn't know who to call to fire him. Normally if the president wanted to fire somebody, he would call Kelly to do it. But there's nobody else to call."