Did Trump Fire His Chief Of Staff Because Of Leaks Or Loyalty?

Following the resignation of Sean Spicer last Friday, observers wondered if Reince Priebus, a longtime ally of Spicer's and a vocal opponent of Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci, would be the next member of Trump's administration to go. The following Friday, in a tweet that took everybody aback, Trump apparently replaced Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

"I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff," the president wrote. "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."

He added: "I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!"

The announcement comes 24 hours after new White House Communications Director Scaramucci called a New Yorker staffer to issue a profanity-laced diatribe about Priebus, who served as RNC chairman before taking a role in Trump's administration. Scaramucci accused Priebus of leaking one of his financial documents (the document was public) and that act being a felony (it isn't), and of being behind other White House leaks.

"Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to resign very shortly," Scaramucci told The New Yorker. He also called Priebus "a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac." He accused Priebus of waging a war of sorts against him, and noted: "He didn’t get the hint that I was reporting directly to the President."

This latest update caps off a mammoth week for the White House, which in just seven days has seen Trump ban trans troops, oust Sean Spicer, and suffer a catastrophic health care failure, on top of one of his administration officials viscerally insulting another in The New Yorker.