An April 5 Associated Press story followed by a similar April 7 Washington Post story both asserted that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was suffering from diminished clout in the White House, as a more confident President Trump feels comfortable taking matters directly to new hires like John Bolton and Larry Kudlow, chatting on the phone with outside advisers, and firing Cabinet secretaries over Kelly’s objections.
John Kelly’s diminished standing in the Trump administration, in one photo
Caught facepalming in an officially released photograph.
I wasn’t really sure I believed it until I saw this tweet from Trump today with four photos, including one of Kelly looking like a very unhappy camper.
Here’s a closer look.
Anyone can be caught in a bad body language moment by a photographer, but this was an official White House release, which seems noteworthy and different from an accidental snapshot.
In other Kelly news, the Daily Beast reported today that former FBI Director James Comey’s forthcoming book claims that then-DHS Secretary John Kelly told him that Trump’s decision to fire Comey was “dishonorable” and that Kelly indicated a desire to resign in protest. Comey, according to the Beast’s sources, says he told Kelly not to quit because “this president” more than others needed honorable people around him.
Why Comey would leak a piece of information that could imperil Kelly’s job if he thought Kelly’s presence was crucial for the country is not exactly clear, though many people have revised their views of Kelly downward since he took office as chief of staff; perhaps Comey is among them.
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