Donald Trump has fired Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and replaced him with Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, the president announced on Twitter on Friday.

The president tweeted: “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a great American … and a great leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my administration.”

The dismissal of Priebus came as little surprise after he was the subject of a furious, foul-mouthed attack by new communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who claimed he would be asked to resign imminently. </s> White House chief of staff John Kelly is expected to resign soon, according to multiple reports.

READ MORE: Donald Trump won’t commit to keeping John Kelly as chief of staff

Sources told CNN that Kelly and U.S. President Donald Trump have stopped speaking and that Kelly will resign “in the coming days.”

Kelly, a retired general and the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has been chief of staff since July 2017. He replaced Reince Priebus, who had held the job for six months.

READ MORE: Nick Ayers, 36, could replace John Kelly as Donald Trump’s chief of staff

Nick Ayers, who is currently chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, is the front-runner to replace Kelly, according to Axios and ABC News.

In an interview on Fox News in November, Trump wouldn’t commit to keeping Kelly on, saying there were “certain things that I don’t like that he does.”

WATCH: Trump says happy with ‘most of’ his cabinet, calls Mueller investigation a ‘hoax’ once more

“There are a couple of things where it’s just not his strength. It’s not his fault. It’s not his strength,” Trump said.

Trump had earlier pledged publicly that Kelly would remain through his first term in office, though many in the West Wing were skeptical.

For his part, Kelly has joked that he didn’t want to leave his position at Homeland Security, but that he “did something wrong and God punished me.”

WATCH: ‘I did something wrong and God punished me’: John Kelly jokes about tenure in White House

*More to come </s> Washington (CNN) John Kelly is expected to resign as White House chief of staff in the coming days, two sources familiar with the situation unfolding in the West Wing tell CNN.

Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years , the two have stopped speaking in recent days.

Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, though a person involved in the process said nothing is final right now and ultimately nothing is final until Trump announces it. Potential replacements include Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, who is still seen as a leading contender

Kelly has been on the verge of resigning or being fired before, only to bounce back every time. But aides feel the relationship can't be salvaged this time. Trump is becoming increasingly concerned about Democrats taking over the House in January, and has privately said he needs someone else to help shape the last two years of his first term, which he predicts will be politically focused. He has complained repeatedly that Kelly is not politically savvy.

The expected departure would end a tumultuous tenure for Kelly, who was brought on to bring order to the White House but whose time as chief of staff has often been marked by the same infighting and controversy that has largely defined Trump's presidency from its beginning. Many of the storms in which Kelly became embroiled were by his own making. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has selected John Kelly as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….” Trump tweeted.

This story is breaking and will be updated. </s> White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will step down by the end of this year, US President Donald Trump has said, confirming that he will announce a replacement “over the next day or two”. The 68-year-old retired Marine Corps general has been President Trump’s Chief of Staff since July 31, 2017. In the first seven months of the Trump administration, Kelly was the secretary of Homeland Security.

“John Kelly will be leaving – I don’t know if I can say ‘retiring’. But, he’s a great guy. John Kelly will be leaving at the end of the year,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday. “We will be announcing who will be taking John’s place…I shall be announcing that over the next day or two. But, John will be leaving at the end of the year. He has been with me almost two years now,” Trump said.

Nick Ayers, the 36-year-old chief of staff to the vice-president Mike Pence, is Kelly’s likely successor. There were reports that the relationship between Trump and Kelly had deteriorated to such an extent that the two were no longer on speaking terms.

Kelly, who was brought in by Trump after he fired Reince Priebus, has been instrumental in bringing in a sense of discipline inside the White House.

 Kelly was one of the several generals appointed by Trump to key roles, including defense secretary Jim Mattis, and former national security advisers Michael Flynn and HR McMaster.

According to a report in ‘The Wall Street Journal’, the relationship between Kelly and Trump had completely broken down, leading the president to tell an associate to “stop calling John” and to instead “call Nick, he’s my guy”. Veteran journalist Bob Woodward wrote in his bestselling book ‘Fear’ that Kelly called Trump an “idiot” at the head of a “Crazytown” administration.

Kelly, however, denied such reports and stayed in post. In France in November for events marking the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war, Kelly visited an American cemetery outside Paris while Trump remained in the city, the White House insisting rain made a presidential visit impractical.

Kelly’s exit from the White House is the latest in a series of reshuffles in the Trump administration. On Friday, Trump said he will nominate William Barr his attorney general, replacing Matthew Whitaker who was named acting attorney general only a month ago. Whitaker replaced Jeff Sessions in the top Justice Department post.

Sessions was fired after months of being attacked and ridiculed by the president on November 7. Trump appointed State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the US’ next ambassador to the UN, replacing Indian-origin Nikki Haley who said in October that she would step down at the end of the year.

McMaster was replaced on March 22 with John Bolton as the national security adviser. Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency chief quit on July 5. Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson was fired by Trump on March 13 after rifts between them. On Friday, Trump tweeted that Tillerson was “dumb as a rock” and “lazy as hell”.

James Comey, the FBI director, who led the Russia probe before Mueller, was fired by Trump in May last year. Michael Flynn resigned in February last year as Trump’s national security adviser. Earlier in the day, Trump nominated General Mark Milley as his next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s top military advisor. If confirmed by the Senate, Gen Milley would replace General Joe Dunford who is scheduled to retire next summer. Milley currently is Chief of Staff of the Army. Trump described Gen Milley as a “great gentleman and a great patriot”. </s> • President Donald Trump said Saturday that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is on his way out.
• Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that Kelly will be leaving “at the end of the year” and he will announce his replacement in the next day or two.
• Trump said last month he was considering several Cabinet changes, though he wouldn’t say if Kelly was included in the positions he was questioning.
• Despite Kelly saying in June he would be with Trump until 2020, clashes within the White House in recent months cast doubt on Kelly’s future with the administration.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is on his way out of the administration.

Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that Kelly will be leaving “at the end of the year” and he will announce his replacement in the next day or two.

Trump added that Kelly had been with him for two years and is “a great guy.”

Business Insider has reached out to the White House for comment and will update this post with any response.

Nick Ayers, who currently serves as Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, has long been suspected as Kelly’s likely replacement. Reports that Trump wanted to replace Kelly with Ayers have dated back to 2017.

Recent reports said Kelly was planning to resign in early December after a feud with Trump became so bad that the two were not on speaking terms. Kelly told staffers in July that he would stay on until 2020, but clashes with Trump seemed to cast doubt on that resolution.

In November, it was reported that Kelly may leave his position soon over repeated clashes with the first lady Melania Trump. NBC News reported that Kelly refused to promote some of her aides, prompting Trump to tell his chief of staff to give the first lady what she wanted.

A spokeswoman for the first lady then told INSIDER that Kelly and Melania Trump had “a very positive relationship.”

Rumors of Kelly’s departure swirled again after Trump abruptly requested Attorney General Jeff Sessions‘ resignation a day after the midterms.

In a Fox News interview last month, Trump railed against the rumors as “disgusting fake news” that reported the potential staff shakeup “like it’s fiction,” before saying he was considering up to five Cabinet changes.

“I have three or four or five positions that I’m thinking about,” Trump said. “Of that, maybe it’s going to end up being two. But I need flexibility.”

Trump then praised Kelly and admitted that clashes with Kelly, most recently after the chief of staff’s office had neglected personnel requests from first lady Melania Trump’s office, had worn on their relationship.

“We get along well,” Trump said. “There are certain things I love that he does, and there are certain things I don’t like that he does that aren’t his strength.”

Trump then admitted Kelly would most likely not be with the administration for the 2020 election.

“I haven’t even thought about John in terms of this,” he added. “But John at some point is going to want to move on.”

This story is developing. Please check back for updates. </s> Donald Trump has found his replacement for White House Chief of Staff.

Six days after confirming John Kelly’s exit, the president named Mick Mulvaney, a former Republican congressman from South Carolina, as the next successor.

“I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration,” Trump wrote in his first of two statements on Twitter.

“I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! John will be staying until the end of the year. He is a GREAT PATRIOT and I want to personally thank him for his service!” he continued.

Trump did not specify if Mulvaney, 51, will remain as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

RELATED: Embattled Chief of Staff John Kelly Will Leave Job at End of the Year, Says Trump

On Dec. 8, Trump told reporters at an Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia that Kelly will be leaving the administration at the end of the year. News of Kelly’s departure came after the retired general was expected to resign following a tumultuous battle in the White House with the president.

Kelly held the position of chief of staff for nearly 17 months after he replaced Reince Priebus in July 2017.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, and Vice President Mike Pence’s top aide Nick Ayers all turned down the chief of staff position as reported by multiple outlets.

RELATED: Trump Says ‘Over 10’ People Want to Be Chief of Staff Amid Reports of Struggle to Find Replacement

On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that his choice for chief of staff would be “somebody that’s strong but I want somebody that thinks like I do.”

Before news of Mulvaney’s appointment was made public, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is currently a senior advisor to the president, was a contender.

Kushner, who is married to the president’s daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump, met with Trump on Wednesday to discuss the position, according to CBS. In addition, an anonymous source told Reuters that recently “numerous people” have recommended that Kushner fill the role because he is close to Trump and has had successes, like helping to create new trade deals with Canada and Mexico. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another staff shake-up of his often turbulent administration, President Donald Trump said on Friday he had picked the two people he wants to be the next U.S. attorney general and next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump said he will nominate former Attorney General William Barr to fill the top job at the U.S. Justice Department again, and that he will put forward State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as ambassador to the United Nations. Both are posts that have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Trump also said he would make another personnel announcement on Saturday.

“It will have to do with the joint chiefs of staff, the succession,” he told reporters outside the White House, suggesting he may name a new top U.S. military officer.

Separately, CNN reported on Friday that John Kelly is expected to resign as White House chief of staff in coming days, citing unnamed sources. Reuters has not independently confirmed the report. </s> “The Trump administration will be announcing the new secretary of the Interior next week,” Trump said on Twitter.

READ MORE: White House chief of staff John Kelly expected to resign within days: reports

Zinke has come under scrutiny for his use of security details, chartered flights and a real estate deal. The Interior Department’s inspector general initiated at least seven investigations against Zinke, while another federal investigative agency opened as many as six other inquiries into Zinke’s behaviour, Bloomberg reported.

WATCH: Several candidates being considered after Trump’s top pick for chief of staff turns down job

Having formerly served as a Navy SEAL and as a Montana congressman, Zinke became known in the administration for championing “United States energy dominance,” aligning himself with Trump’s energy agenda, Bloomberg continues.

READ MORE: Trump’s new chief of staff is a Tea Party man who lobbied for a job ‘no one wanted,’ reports say

The departure follows Trump’s announcement on Dec. 8 that Chief of Staff John Kelly would be leaving at the end of this year, as well, adding another White House staffer to the administration’s long string of departures.

Trump announced Friday that former budget head Mike Mulvaney would be replacing Kelly upon his departure.
White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly is set to resign by the end of the month according to U.S. President Donald Trump.