JOHN KELLY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “With John Kelly’s tenure as White House chief of staff possibly winding down, President Donald Trump has been consulting with some of his advisers on who should succeed Kelly in that post, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Kelly, a retired general, is nearing a year in the job and could be leaving soon, the source said. Among possible choices for Trump are Mick Mulvaney, who is the White House budget director and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, the source said. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told reporters aboard Air Force One on the president’s flight to Washington from Milwaukee that both Trump and Kelly had denied that Kelly was on his way out. Trump called the report ‘fake news’ and Kelly said that ‘this was news to him,’ she said. Trump has occasionally chafed at the restrictions Kelly has placed on who gets access to see him and has wondered aloud whether he needs someone with more political experience for the job as congressional elections approach, two sources said. But he frequently praises Kelly publicly and has expressed admiration of him.”
-Steve Holland, “Trump considering who will be next White House chief of staff: source,” Reuters, June 28, 2018 12:29 pm