On Saturday President Donald Trump announced that Chief of Staff John Kelly was ending his tenure at the end of the year, and immediately people began to speculate who would replace him.
It now appears that the speculation will end on Monday, The Daily Mail reported.
President Trump will announce his replacement for White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday, it has been revealed.
White House sources said that Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s current chief of staff, remains the top contender.
Trump revealed on Saturday that Kelly would be ‘leaving at the end of the year’.
‘John Kelly will be leaving – I don’t know if I can say retiring – but he’s a great guy,’ Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House to attend the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.
‘We’ll be announcing who will be taking John’s place – it might be on an interim basis. I’ll be announcing that over the next day or two, but John will be leaving at the end of the year. I appreciate his service very much.’
White House sources told CBS News that Trump and Ayers have been working out the details for the appointment.
Trump wants his next chief of staff to hold the position through the 2020 election, which sources said could be an issue for 36-year-old Ayers.
A father of triplets, it has long been known that Ayers wants to leave the Trump administration and move his family back to Georgia by the end of the year.
But sources said that Trump and Ayers could come to an agreement over the weekend.
There’s a reason Trump didn’t announce Nick Ayers replacing Kelly yet. Source says they’re still negotiating. Ayers told Trump he wants to go back to his home state Georgia at the end of the year, but offered to become COS temporarily. However, Trump wants a two-year commitment.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 8, 2018
Trump wants Nick Ayers, who has young kids returning to Georgia and who has told Trump he could stay on in an interim way till spring. Trump, unhappy about the chaos storyline, wants someone full time https://t.co/cAfreVtaSJ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 8, 2018
Gen. Kelly served this nation honorably for decades. He did a great job as COS.
But he's not a vicious political operative and COS is arguably the most politically charged job in DC.
Ayers is a political killer, and the right guy as we head into 2020.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) December 8, 2018
President Trump is expected to announce his next White House chief of staff on Monday, and Nick Ayers — the 36-year-old chief of staff for Vice President Pence — is the top contender https://t.co/GZOGFZ8IJE pic.twitter.com/OxHxsoTxrj
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 8, 2018
Trump is in talks with Pence aide Ayers to replace Kelly https://t.co/4c44KKCYsG pic.twitter.com/ip09AxMphM
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 9, 2018
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