Trump fires back at Kelly after ‘scared s—less’ remarks

by Nick Robertson - 06/16/23 3:24 PM ET

Former President Trump attacked his former chief of staff John Kelly after Kelly said the former president is is “scared s—less” over pending federal changes that he mishandled classified information.

“John Kelly pretended to be a ‘tough guy,’ but was actually weak and ineffective, born with a VERY small ‘brain.’ He had a hard time functioning in a political world, and was truly an exhausted and beaten man when I fired him,” Trump said on Truth Social on Friday.

Kelly’s comments to The Washington Post were responding to Trump’s attacks against special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents

Trump was indicted on 37 felony charges and pleaded not guilty to all charges at an arraignment hearing Tuesday in Miami.

More Trump coverage from The Hill

Kelly, formerly a four-star General, was Trump’s chief of staff from mid-2017 to January 2019, when he was fired due to a deteriorating personal relationship between the men, reports at the time alleged.

“In the end he was a ‘mummy’ who sat in his office and stared at the ceiling – he was ‘shot.’ I’ll never forget how his very nice wife told me that ‘John loves you, and respects you more than anyone, he will always say the BEST things about you.’ Oh well, so much for that!,” Trump continued.

After leaving the administration, Kelly called Trump “the most flawed person” he’d ever known.

Tags Donald Trump Jack Smith John Kelly Mar-a-Lago documents Trump classified documents