PRIEBUS OUT: Trump names homeland security secretary as new chief of staff

President Donald Trump on Friday replaced White House chief of staff Reince Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff,” Trump wrote in the first of two tweets just before 5 p.m. ET. “He is a Great American and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”

In a third tweet, Trump thanked Priebus “for his service and dedication to his country.”

“We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!” Trump said.

CNN reported that Priebus offered Trump his resignation on Thursday.

Trump told reporters more about the move as he returned from Long Island after giving a speech there Friday afternoon.

“Reince is a good man,” Trump told pool reporters after he got off Air Force One. “John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great, great American.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement within an hour of the developments. She called Kelly “one of the true stars of the Administration” who “has helped seal the border and reduced illegal immigration by 70%.”

“He is respected by everyone, especially the people at the Department of Homeland Security,” she wrote. “The entire Administration loves him and no one is comparable. He will begin on Monday morning and a cabinet meeting will follow his swearing in Monday morning.”

Sanders said Trump “thanks” Priebus “for his service.”

“They accomplished a lot together,” she continued. “He was loyal in his dedication to the president. The president thanks him and his family for his great service to the country, and he will always be a member of the Trump team.”

The episode marked the end of a weeklong saga involving Priebus and new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Priebus had worked hard to block Scaramucci’s appointment, but Trump decided to hire him anyway.

Immediately after Scaramucci’s hiring, White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced he was resigning. Spicer was Priebus’ closest White House ally based on both of their past work for the Republican National Committee.

As The New York Times reported Friday, Priebus was pushed out as Trump became convinced the chief of staff was not strong enough for the role. Trump had discussed bringing in “a general” to lead his administration. He selected Kelly, a retired Marine four-star general whose work leading the Department of Homeland Security the president has been extremely pleased with.

But Kelly’s appointment leaves a gap at the DHS, and his eventual successor will have to go through Senate confirmation.

Priebus joined Trump on Air Force One for Trump’s trip to Long Island, where he gave a speech focused on his administration’s efforts to fight the MS-13 street gang. Accompanying him on the flight was also Scaramucci, who had savaged Priebus in a New Yorker interview published less than 24 hours earlier.

In that interview, Scaramucci called Priebus a “f—— paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac” and said the chief of staff would be resigning soon.

Scaramucci had become incensed at Priebus on Wednesday after a Politico report detailed Scaramucci’s financial disclosure, which was publicly available from Scaramucci’s stint at the Export-Import Bank. Scaramucci, who did not know that at the time, had tweeted that the report was illegally leaked and said he was going to contact the FBI and the Justice Department. He also tagged Priebus in the now-deleted tweet and wrote #swamp.

The White House communications director then called The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza that same day because he was angered by a tweet from the reporter. That tweet cited a “senior White House official” who said Scaramucci was having dinner at the White House with the president, first lady Melania Trump, former Fox News executive Bill Shine, and Fox News host Sean Hannity.

On Thursday night, The Washington Post reported that Scaramucci and his allies were compiling a diagram of news outlets they believe Priebus leaked information to, according to a White House official who discussed the plan of attack. The source said Scaramucci and his allies planned to present their findings to Trump on Friday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan – a fellow Wisconsinite and close ally – released a statement on Priebus’ departure shortly after it was announced Friday.

“Reince Priebus has left it all out on the field, for our party and our country,” Ryan said. “Here is a guy from Kenosha, Wisconsin who revitalized the Republican National Committee and became White House chief of staff. He has served the president and American people capably and passionately. He has achieved so much, and he has done it all with class. I could not be more proud to call Reince a dear friend.”

Ryan congratulated Kelly and said he looks forward to working with him.