White House officials claim that chief of staff John Kelly presents himself as a savior and calls Trump an "idiot" behind his back.

What an idiot.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

White House chief of staff John Kelly has eroded morale in the West Wing in recent months with comments to aides that include insulting the president's intelligence and casting himself as the savior of the country, according to eight current and former White House officials. 

The officials said Kelly portrays himself to Trump administration aides as the lone bulwark against catastrophe, curbing the erratic urges of a president who has a questionable grasp on policy issues and the functions of government. He has referred to Trump as "an idiot" multiple times to underscore his point, according to four officials who say they've witnessed the comments.

Officials said Kelly's public image as a retired four-star general instilling discipline on a chaotic White House and an impulsive president belies what they describe as the undisciplined and indiscreet approach he's employed as chief of staff. The private manner aides describe may shed new light on why Kelly now finds himself — just nine months into the job — grappling with diminished influence and a drumbeat of questions about how long he'll remain at the White House. 

"He says stuff you can't believe," said one senior White House official. "He'll say it and you think, 'That is not what you should be saying.'"

Of course since this story broke earlier today Kelly has issued a statement pushing back on the allegations:  
“I am committed to our President, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration’s many successes.”

Yeah, okay.

This is not the first time that we have heard that there is tension between Trump and his chief of staff, and apparently Kelly has been greatly marginalized as of late.

And also according to NBC News Kelly's negative remarks about the president are not the only thing that puts his job in jeopardy:

Current and former White House officials said Kelly has at times made remarks that have rattled female staffers. Kelly has told aides multiple times that women are more emotional than men, including at least once in front of the president, four current and former officials said. 

And during a firestorm in February over accusations of domestic abuse against then-White House staff secretary Rob Porter, Kelly wondered aloud how much more Porter would have to endure before his honor could be restored, according to three officials who were present for the comments. He also questioned why Porter's ex-wives wouldn't just move on based on the information he said he had about his marriages, the officials said. 

Some current and former White House officials said they expect Kelly to leave by July, his one-year mark. But others say it's anyone's guess. What's clear is both Trump and Kelly seem to have tired of each other. 

Move over Rex Tillerson it looks like you are about to have a little company in the "We Just Got Shitcanned Hotel."

Sources say that Trump chief of staff John Kelly may be headed to the chopping block, and that Ivanka is actively searching for his successor.

Courtesy of Vanity Fair:  

Donald Trump’s relationship with John Kelly, his chief of staff, fraught from the beginning, may finally have gone past the point of no return. Two prominent Republicans in frequent contact with the White House told me that Trump has discussed choosing Kelly’s successor in recent days, asking a close friend what he thought about David Urban, a veteran Washington lobbyist and political operative who helped engineer Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania. Ivanka is also playing a central role in the search, quietly field-testing ideas with people. “Ivanka is the most worried about it. She’s trying to figure who replaces Kelly,” a person who’s spoken with her said. 

Kelly’s departure likely isn’t imminent, sources said. “He wants to stay longer than Reince [Priebus],” an outside adviser said. Trump can also hardly afford another high-level staff departure, which would trigger days of negative news cycles. “This could be like [Jeff] Sessions,” one of the Republicans explained, referring to Trump’s festering frustration about not being able to replace his attorney general. 

But the prospect of a Trump-Kelly rupture became more probable as news of their clashes over immigration leaked. Last week, Kelly reportedly infuriated Trump when he told Fox News that Trump had “evolved” on his position to build a southern border wall. Kelly further catalyzed Trump’s ire when he told Democratic lawmakers that Trump was “uninformed” when he made his campaign promise to build the wall. The next morning Trump rebutted his chief of staff with a tweet: “The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it.”

No way this should come as a surprise to anybody, Trump simply does not like to be controlled.

And Kelly has been trying to get the White House to run with military like efficiency which has some staffers referring to him as "the Church Lady."

Of course as we have discussed in the past, once someone like Kelly is removed that leaves Trump unsupervised, and like the over grown toddler that he is his impulsivity will be left unchecked and the unraveling of his presidency will only accelerate.

I guess Ivanka better get on the stick.

Congresswoman who overheard Trump condolence call staying away from Washington due to death threats.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) reportedly did not return to Washington this week due to threats she's received since her comments about President Trump's call to the widow of a fallen soldier. 

“She’s home,” Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) told the Miami Herald. 

“I have not spoken with her about it, but I’ve heard that she’s received substantial death threats and I think she is doing everything she can to ratchet down and let some of us, including me, take over.” 

The last time Wilson voted was on Oct. 12. 

A source told the newspaper that "nothing else would keep her from voting," adding that there are investigations into the threats she has faced.

Apparently these ramped up after General Kelly falsely accused Wilson of grandstanding during the dedication of an FBI building, and then attempted to shame her for overhearing a phone call that was broadcast on speaker phone while she was in the car on the way to retrieve the body of Sgt. La David Johnson.

So we now live in a country where the White House Chief of Staff activates the Right Wing flying monkeys to go after critics of his boss. 

Of course Rep. Wilson is also a black woman so she was probably already seen as a vulnerable target.

Word is that Trump's Chief of Staff has already resigned. Possible announcement in today's news dump.

Just heard from good source John Kelly has ALREADY resigned & announcement being held for Friday evening. Can’t confirm by 2nd source though

— Sarah Smith (@SarahLSmith677) October 5, 2017

Rumors swirling around D.C. that Chief of Staff John Kelly has already resigned&they're holding the announcement until the Friday news dump.

— Trump's not my Pres (@Nysteveo2AOLcom) October 5, 2017

John Kelly has resigned, I hear ... (not confirmed) waiting on official word. Another jumps ship. You can't even write this story

— Ac2alLivingScientist (@crktfrog) October 5, 2017

A White House reporter also tweeted this.

Gen. Kelly was originally going to be on AF1 to Vegas with Trump today but was pulled off flight, I'm told.
WH not answering Qs about it.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 4, 2017

If this is true this would really signal that the White House is essentially falling apart at the seems.

Without Kelly there will be nothing to keep Trump reined in, and there is no telling what he will do once there is nobody controlling him at all.

P.S. By the way late yesterday we learned that Kelly's phone was hacked. 

White House Chief of Staff blocks Trump from making yet another really bad hiring decision.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

Sheriff David A. Clarke just lost out on yet another Trump administration job—and he has the president’s chief of staff to thank. 

Officials in the West Wing tell The Daily Beast that Clarke had been in consideration for a White House post over the past seven weeks. But on Tuesday, the controversial former Milwaukee County lawman signed on with an outside group instead. He will serve as a spokesman and “senior adviser” for the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action. 

Four sources working in and close to the Trump White House said his failure to land a gig in the West Wing or at the Department of Homeland Security, where Clarke unsuccessfully sought a job earlier this year, was in large part the result of opposition from White House chief of staff John Kelly. Kelly led DHS until late July. 

Though Clarke had been discussed for a possible White House communications or outreach role, Kelly’s position as chief of staff made the arrangement a “non-starter,” as one senior White House official put it. Earlier this year, while serving as DHS Secretary, Kelly had informed Clarke that an appointment to that department would not happen in part due to scandal surrounding the treatment of inmates in Clarke’s jail, and the ensuing negative media attention. According to two sources familiar with the discussions, this led to Clarke formally “rescinding” his intention to join the Trump administration in mid-June.

Damn, Kelly is keeping a tight lid on the White House to keep the cockroaches out.

Clarke is essentially Joe Apraio in blackface, and he would have brought all kinds of unwanted baggage into the White House with him.

Clarke is from the Steve Bannon/Michael Flynn school of outrageous conspiracy theories and has some real doozies of his own that are part of the permanent record.

One has to wonder just how crazy the flood of White House appointees will be once John Kelly tells Trump "no" just one too many times.

But don't worry about ole Sheriff Clarke, he found a soft place to land.

Sheriff Clarke, shut out by Kelly, going to Trump PAC, via sources.

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) September 5, 2017

Not quite as prestigious as a White House post, but at least he still gets to kiss Trump's ass. 

Trump's new Chief of Staff called James Comey after he was fired and almost resigned due to how he as treated.

Courtesy of CNN: 

New White House chief of staff John Kelly was so upset with how President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning, according to two sources familiar with a conversation between Kelly and Comey. 

Both sources cautioned that it was unclear how serious Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, was about resigning himself."

John was angry and hurt by what he saw and the way (Comey) was treated," one of the sources said. Comey learned of his dismissal on May 9 from televisions tuned to the news as he was addressing the workforce at the FBI office in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources said at the time. 

Comey made a joke about it to lighten the mood and called his office to get confirmation. 

Comey, who took Kelly's call while traveling back from Los Angeles to Washington, responded to Kelly by telling him not to resign, one of the sources said.

Well, isn't this interesting.

This means that the guy who is now supposed to rein Trump in, and exert some control over the Animal House like atmosphere which surrounds him, is displeased with how his boss treated the man in charge of investigating his campaign for corruption and collusion with Russia.

I wonder if Donnie knows that?

By all accounts Kelly is a no nonsense, by the book, kind of fellow.

You know the type who does not respond well to people breaking the rules, and who might be far more sympathetic toward investigators searching for the truth, than toward a president working to obfuscate that truth.