04 August, 2017
Lapan has a background that, like Kelly's, is steeped in years of military experience.
Former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, who was ousted from the campaign in June 2016, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he expected Kelly would "restore order to the staff" but also stressed that Trump was unlikely to change his style. Backstabbing among aides has been rife, and rival camps have jockeyed for position.
"What the president decided when he was president-elect and [made the decision] to bring Reince on board was to bring someone in who understood Washington and to help him staff his team in order to achieve his legislative agenda, and unfortunately where we are right now - if you look at the ups and downs of the presidency so far - the single most important thing the president has been able to achieve was getting Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court", Lewandowski said.
The White House did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
But this source said Trump's recent criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other episodes of White House chaos are giving McCaul "pause". He put the acrimony and tensions among White House factions on full display last week when he took aim at Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon in a foul-mouthed exchange with a reporter from The New Yorker.
The chief of staff took his oath of office early Monday in an Oval Office ceremony thronged by senior staffers, including Scaramucci.
Trump praised Kelly for his work at the DHS, crediting him with reducing the number of people illegally crossing the southern United States border, and implementing a travel ban for refugees and people from a group of Muslim majority countries. The three-sentence release concluded, "We wish him all the best". He was the third person to hold the communications director title in that time.
Reince Priebus, the former chief of staff, and Sean Spicer, the former press secretary, both hailed from the establishment wing of the Republican party and both have resigned.
Trump, not Priebus, has been the primary cause of the administration's turmoil and aimless drift.
Trump abruptly fired former FBI Director James Comey, who led his agency's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 USA presidential campaign and possible collusion with Trump's campaign.
When asked if he would accept the position if it were offered, Lapan said he would have to consider it.
