JOHN KELLY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly defended his moves to manage the West Wing and better control access to President Donald Trump, while also brushing off talk that he was frustrated in the post.
Mr. Kelly said he has imposed more organization on the West Wing but isn’t running operations with an ‘iron hand’ or restricting the president’s ability to speak with advisers and friends. He said he was organizing more group meetings, rather than ‘onesies and twosies,’ to better brief the president on important matters.
Mr. Kelly, who joined the Trump administration as Homeland Security secretary and then became chief of staff in July, poked fun at reports that he has been unhappy in his new job…
Describing his job, he said he was ‘just putting some organization to it, with a smile on my face.’ In his first months as chief of staff, Mr. Kelly has been photographed at Mr. Trump’s events with a stern look on his face, which he said has been misinterpreted.”
-Michael C. Bender, “Kelly Defends Moves to Control Access to Trump,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 12, 2017 05:30pm