According to a report, former general John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, predicted a “nonstop gunfight” with Congress if Trump were to seek reelection.
Kelly has been quite critical of Trump ever since he left office, even going so far as to call him the most imperfect person he’s ever encountered.
Kelly, who became Trump’s second chief of staff, was hired to bring order to the White House. He stayed in office for over a year and a half, but he claimed he could not put a stop to the melodrama and infighting- Some of which Kelly himself caused.
In 2019, a report revealed that Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN, claimed in her new book “With All Due Respect” that two of President Trump’s top aides sought to recruit her to discreetly undermine the government from the inside. Haley claimed that Rex Tillerson and John Kelly approached her about working together to undermine Trump’s presidency.
Kelly and Tillerson told Haley privately that their resistance to the president was not an act of insubordination but rather an effort to preserve the country.
According to the Washington Post, Haley rejected Tillerson and Kelly’s efforts to persuade her to “save the country” and that they viewed her closeness to the president with suspicion and fear. Since Trump was the one chosen by voters, Haley showed throughout her time in office that she had a duty to carry out his intentions.
Another report from 2019 shows that John Kelly was overheard in a conversationTrump’s former deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, discussing how to undermine Trump’s Syria policy.
“Team of Vipers” author and former White House communications official Cliff Sims writes about overhearing Kelly and Hagin discussing how to prevent Trump from withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria. Syria was an issue of contention between Trump and Kelly.
