As new chief of staff John Kelly tries to impose order in the White House by limiting the President’s impromptu conversations with friends and advisers, a defiant Donald Trump has taken to calling friends and outside advisers on his personal cell phone, circumventing Kelly’s attempt to vet calls and appointments, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the calls.
Those in contact with Trump on his personal, unsecured cell phone when Kelly is not present include recently ousted chief strategist Steve Bannon, per the Washington Post.
Although Trump has praised Kelly both in private and in public, he has become frustrated with the chief of staff’s attempts to bring order to the White House and therefore limit the President’s interactions with friends and advisers, according to the Washington Post. In particular, Trump is unhappy with the way Kelly’s role managing Trump is covered in the media and has tried to counter that narrative, the Post reported.
Trump has also been frustrated with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who openly criticized Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, per the Post.
