U.S. President Donald Trump seemed to express hope of bringing order to his administration’s inner circle as John Kelly was sworn in as his new White House chief of staff on Monday.
Trump predicted Kelly will do a “spectacular job” as he officially welcomed the retired Marine Corps general and former Homeland Security secretary during an Oval Office ceremony.
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Earlier Monday, the president posted a tweet denying there is “chaos” in the White House, despite a particularly tumultuous stretch. However, after the swearing-in, he referred to a “very controversial situation.”
“We just swore in Gen. Kelly,” Trump said. “He will do a spectacular job, I have no doubt, as chief of staff. What he’s done in terms of Homeland Security is record-shattering. You look at the border, you look at the tremendous results we’ve had and you look at the spirit. And with a very controversial situation, there’s been very little controversy, which is pretty amazing by itself.”
Trump was declining to say just what Kelly will do differently from Reince Preibus, whom Trump ousted as chief of staff late last week. Trump has said he hopes Kelly can bring some military order to an administration weighed down by a stalled legislative agenda, infighting among West Wing aides and a stack of investigations.