White House chief of staff John Kelly, making a rare appearance before reporters Thursday, rejected reports that he would soon be departing the White House.
“I don’t think I’m being fired today and I am not so frustrated in this job that I’m thinking of leaving,” Kelly said in a light-hearted moment with reporters.
Kelly called the job the hardest and most important job he’s ever had, but not the best job he’s had, saying that that the best job he’s ever had was when he was an enlisted Marine.
Asked by a reporter if he was frustrated at all, Kelly said, “No, I’m not frustrated.”
Kelly went on to say that his only frustration is “when I come to work in the morning and I read about things that I allegedly said or think that Mr. Trump allegedly said or people who are going to be fired and it’s just not true. I mean no disrespect to you all.”
He later added, “Unless things change, I’m not quitting I’m not getting fired and I don’t think I’ll fire anyone tomorrow.”
Kelly also said that one of President Donald Trump’s biggest frustrations is with the media, suggesting that reporters should “develop some better sources.”
“One of his frustrations is you, all of you, not all of you, but many of you,” Kelly said in response to a question about Trump’s frustrations.
“As I said when I first started talking, again, I am a reasonable guy, but when I read … watch TV in the morning, it is astounding to me about how much is misreported. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you are operating off of contacts, leaks, whatever you call them, but I would just offer to you the advice, I would say, maybe develop some better sources. Some person that works way down inside an office, well, develop some better sources.”
