USA, July 31st, 2017: John Kelly was sworn in Monday as the new White House chief of staff, as US President Donald Trump looked to the retired Marine general for leadership after a shake-up of his top staff.<\/p>\n
Kelly, 67, is replacing Reince Priebus, who was forced out last week after the spectacular failure of Trump’s bid to repeal Obamacare and as an ugly in-house feud spilled into the open.<\/p>\n
“We just swore in General Kelly — he will do a spectacular job, I have no doubt, as chief of staff,” Trump said after the Oval Office ceremony.<\/p>\n
“What he has done in terms of homeland security is record-shattering, if you look at the border, if you look at the tremendous results we’ve had,” Trump said.<\/p>\n
Trump accentuated the positive in an early morning tweet: “Highest Stock Market EVER, best economic numbers in years, unemployment lowest in 17 years, wages raising, border secure, S.C.: No WH chaos.”<\/p>\n
Republicans are hoping Kelly, who served as Homeland Security secretary for the first six months of Trump’s presidency, will succeed in imposing discipline on a White House whipsawed by controversy.<\/p>\n
The chief of staff traditionally manages the president’s schedule and is the highest ranking White House employee, deciding who has access to the US leader.<\/p>\n
But many question whether anyone can rein in the mercurial, Twitter-happy Trump, who has appeared to encourage the infighting among various factions vying for influence in his administration.<\/p>\n
Under pressure from a widening probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russia last year, Trump last week attacked his own attorney general for disloyalty, alarming his conservative base, before turning on Priebus.<\/p>\n
In another tweet Monday, Trump hinted that Congress’s own health insurance plan should be replaced for its failure to repeal Obamacare, his predecessor’s signature reform of the US health care system.<\/p>\n
“If Obamacare is hurting people & it is, why shouldn’t it hurt the insurance companies and why should Congress not be paying what public pays?”
\nSince taking office six months ago, Trump’s tumultuous administration has seen a succession of negative headlines and brewing scandals.<\/p>\n
Fueling the fire, the billionaire Republican has parted with a number of top officials including his national security advisor, deputy national security advisor and FBI director, among others — an unparalleled turnover for such a young presidency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"