Advisers Press Trump To Pick Young WH Aide To Replace Kelly

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11 : President Donald J. Trump debates with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as Vice President Mike Pence listens during a meet... WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11 : President Donald J. Trump debates with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as Vice President Mike Pence listens during a meeting in the Oval Office of White House on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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President Trump’s advisers are pushing him to consider Johnny DeStefano, a young, lesser known, but well-liked aide to replace John Kelly as chief of staff when he exits at the end of the year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

According to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Times, several of Trump’s closest advisers think DeStefano is a good choice. The 39-year-old previously served as an aide to former House Speaker John Boehner and has been working as Trump’s director of personnel. DeStefano was also heavily involved in election efforts during the midterms, while juggling overseeing the Office of Public Liaison, according to the Times.

After his top choice, Nick Ayers — the chief of staff to the Vice President — turned down the gig, Trump has been scrambling to interview contenders for the role and said Thursday that he it talking with five “terrific people” for the job.

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Notable Replies

  1. Run!!!

  2. Avatar for erik_t erik_t says:

    RUN, JOHNNY! YOU’RE STILL YOUNG! SAVE YOURSELF!

    and I see I’m already too late to express this notion first :laughing:

  3. So another young(er) person’s career will be blighted. Ah well.

  4. The perfect choice for a coward such as Trump, when it comes to firing staff:

    On the evening of January 30, 2017, DeStefano wrote the letter to Acting Attorney General Sally Yates informing her that “the president [had] removed [her] from the office of Deputy Attorney General of the United States.” Yates’ dismissal was a result of her decision to inform the United States Department of Justice that she did not see defending Trump’s executive order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” as consistent with her responsibilities.

  5. Go ahead and ruin his career, he has consumed the Koolaid and will never be a good American, just a good Republican and we don’t need any more of those.

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