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Trump Replaces Chief of Staff Priebus with DHS Head John Kelly

HeadlineJul 31, 2017

In a major shake-up in the White House, President Trump has ousted his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, only days after Trump’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, railed against Priebus in an expletive-laden phone call with New Yorker correspondent Ryan Lizza. During the call, Scaramucci called Priebus an “f—ing paranoid schizophrenic.” He also attacked Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, accusing him of trying to suck his own ****. And Scaramucci said “I want to f—ing kill all the leakers.” Following this rant, Trump decided to keep Scaramucci and replace Priebus with former General John Kelly, who is currently the head of the Department of Homeland Security.

President Donald Trump: “Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody—a great, great American. Reince Priebus, a good man. Thank you very much.”

General Kelly is taking over as Trump’s chief of staff today. As head of DHS, Kelly has presided over Trump’s promised immigration crackdown, with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency launching major raids against undocumented immigrants. ICE has also been accused of specifically targeting undocumented activists for arrest and possible deportation. Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke has been named acting secretary of DHS, until Trump makes a new appointment who will then have to be confirmed by the Senate.

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