Nick Ayers, the current chief of staff for Vice President Pence, will not be President Trump’s next White House chief of staff, an official confirmed to The Hill.
Ayers told Trump he could not commit to the job for more than the first three months of 2019, while the president sought a longer commitment.
Jonathan Swan: “The most important phrase Trump said in his brief remarks to reporters today was that Kelly’s replacement ‘might be on an interim basis.'”
New York Times: “Nick Ayers has told Mr. Trump that he would serve on an interim basis through the spring, when his family will return to Georgia, according to people familiar with the discussions. But Mr. Trump, who frets about the image of a White House in constant chaos, wants a full-time replacement and is eager for Mr. Ayers to stay for the duration.”
“If the president ultimately turns to another candidate, potential choices include the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin; his budget director, Mick Mulvaney; and the United States trade representative, Robert Lighthizer.”
“For the past month, Nick Ayers has been a White House chief of staff in waiting. President Trump informally offered Ayers a job as his top aide during a private huddle at an election night party in the White House residence last month. Several White House staff and advisers were within earshot and overheard the conversation, which included First Lady Melania Trump, and its details were described to Politico by two people briefed on them. It seemed like a done deal, except for one complication: The position wasn’t open yet.”
“John Kelly was still hanging on to the job, however tenuously. White House officials now believe that will finally change, saying they expect Kelly to exit any day now. That would seem to clear the way for Ayers. But the lag time allowed a month-long lobbying campaign both for and against the 36-year-old Ayers, currently Vice President Mike Pence’s top aide. Ayers’ detractors — who consider him nakedly ambitious and untrustworthy — have lobbied Trump against following through on the offer.”
Bloomberg: “Trump has made it known that he will not force Kelly out but is prepared to let him leave in his own time, people familiar with the situation said. Some think Kelly’s departure may come quickly, though it could also slip until after the holidays.”
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Trump president told one of his associates on Thursday night: “Stop calling John for anything. Call Nick. He’s my guy.”
Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff railed against congressional leaders in closed-door remarks to wealthy donors and called for a “purge” if GOP lawmakers don’t quickly rally behind President Trump’s agenda, Politico reports.
Said Nick Ayers: “I’m not speaking on behalf of the president or vice president when I say this. But if I were you, I would not only stop donating, I would form a coalition of all the other major donors, and just say two things. We’re definitely not giving to you, number one. And number two, if you don’t have this done by Dec. 31, we’re going out, we’re recruiting opponents, we’re maxing out to their campaigns, and we’re funding super PACs to defeat all of you.”
“The vice president’s office hasn’t been one of the competing power centers in President Trump’s faction-riven White House – but the recent arrival of Nick Ayers, the veteran campaign operative now serving as Mike Pence’s chief of staff, is starting to change that,” Politico reports.
“Among the reasons Ayers didn’t join the White House in January was a long-running feud with former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who reportedly blocked his ascension to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in December and, according to one White House aide, worked to keep him out of the administration.”
“With the exception of political director Bill Stepien, a former Chris Christie aide, the political operation is now staffed almost entirely by Pence World operatives.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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