Trump once summoned Priebus to kill a fly in Oval Office: report
President Trump reportedly once summoned former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to kill a fly in the Oval Office during a meeting, according to a Friday report.
A source told The Washington Post that once during an Oval Office meeting, a fly began buzzing around Trump’s head, distracting him. Trump eventually summoned Priebus and told him to kill the fly. As a senior White House staffer, the chief of staff would not ordinarily be tasked with such matters.
{mosads}The Post reports that anecdote was just one way the relationship between Trump and Priebus became fractured by the end. Trump announced Priebus’ resignation on Friday night.
A senior White House official told the newspaper that Trump often referenced Priebus’ comments after the infamous “Access Hollywood” interview with Trump surfaced. Priebus, as head of the Republican National Committee, said at the time Trump that should drop out of the presidential race.
The official told the Post that Trump’s complaints about Priebus had ramped up in recent weeks.
“It reached a fever pitch of the president complaining about Reince to all of us,” the official said. “If we heard it once, we heard it 20 times in the last week — this erosion of confidence. The word was ‘weak’ — ‘weak,’ ‘weak,’ ‘weak.’ ‘Can’t get it done.’”
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night that Trump wasn’t happy with Priebus because he didn’t fire back at newly hired White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci following the publication of an explosive interview in which Scaramucci called Priebus a “f——— paranoid schizophrenic.”
Trump announced on Twitter Friday night that he had chosen Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new chief of staff.
Speaking to reporters on Friday just after the move was announced, Trump called Priebus a “good man” but called Kelly a “star.”
“John Kelly will do a fantastic job. Gen. Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great American,” he said.
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