After this week’s dramatic climax to the feud between Scaramucci and Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff quietly resigned. His replacement has already been announced.
It was a little bit anticlimactic after their running feud became public, but Reince Priebus has quietly tendered his resignation.
Both he and President Trump were gracious in his departure.
“It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this president and our country,” Priebus said. “I want to thank the president for giving me this very special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the president’s agenda and policies. I can’t think of a better person than General John Kelly to succeed me and I wish him God’s blessings and great success.” – CBS
I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
And he announced his replacement by Twitter
I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
So, the replacement is John F Kelly. What do we know about him, besides Trump thinks he was a superstar in Homeland?
Here are a couple of excerpts from his Wiki bio to give a sense of who he is:
In mid-April 2003, Kelly took command of the newly formed Task Force Tripoli and drove it north from Baghdad into Samarra and Tikrit.[11] During the initial assault on Baghdad, Kelly was asked by a reporter for The Los Angeles Times if, considering the size of the Iraqi Army and the vast supplies of tanks, artillery and chemical weapons available to Saddam’s forces, he would ever consider defeat. Kelly’s archetypal response was “Hell these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal and took Iwo Jima. Baghdad ain’t shit.”
…”If you think this war against our way of life is over because some of the self-appointed opinion-makers and chattering class grow ‘war weary,’ because they want to be out of Iraq or Afghanistan, you are mistaken. This enemy is dedicated to our destruction. He will fight us for generations, and the conflict will move through various phases as it has since 9/11.”
So he’s a fighter, not afraid of long odds, and is a big-picture thinker.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s a retired four-star US Marine Corps general, either.
While at homeland security, Kelly has presided over a crackdown on illegal migrants and a more aggressive posture for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). –Guardian
And if you’ve been following THAT story at all, you know that means he’s been getting results.
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is Making Illegals ‘Self Deport’ – Here’s The Facts
Considering there had been “125 major leaks” in “127 days” of administration, we have someone like Kelly who won’t suffer fools lightly in charge.
Is he the right fit? Time will tell.
Priebus Is gone, do you like his replacement?
