Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus on Monday rebuffed any notion of chaos within President Donald Trump's administration but acknowledged that the president is "not a cakewalk" for John Kelly.
Priebus made the comments in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, reacting to the turnover of Trump's Cabinet members and the speculation that more might be coming.
Priebus said he hopes Kelly, the current chief of staff, lasts a long time because "he's good for the president."
Being chief of staff "is a tough job," Priebus told Hewitt. "And when a 4-star combat Marine (Kelly) says it was the toughest job he's ever had in his life, that tells you something. It is a tough job. And the president's not a cakewalk. And I love him, but again, it's not an easy job."
Kelly replaced Priebus as chief of staff in late July.
Priebus wouldn't speculate about whether H.R. McMaster was on his way out as Trump's national security adviser.
"Hugh, I don't know. I think that guessing game is sort of like, you know, putting a couple dollars on the lottery. I just don't know," Priebus told Hewitt.
But Priebus adamantly rejected the media's version that the exits of Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn are evidence of chaos with the Trump administration.
"The media reports all along, though, on the fight. Today, this one doesn't like this one. Today, someone yelled at someone else. Today, this one might be leaving because he's mad. And so that is what is interpreted as chaos," Priebus said.
"And what I always try to remind people is forget about the process of the decision making, because the president likes learning from division. Forget about the process, but look at the decisions," Priebus said.
"The decisions, if you're a conservative or a Republican or maybe even someone close to the line or in the middle, on the decisions, you cannot possibly be happier. So, I say forget about the process, look at the decisions," Priebus said.
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