According to New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt— who authored the 2020 book Donald Trump v. The United States— former White House chief of staff John Kelly often had to focus his attention on less important issues during his work hours, such as handling former President Donald Trump‘s personal conflicts.
The book’s new paperback edition— which was published on January 17th— also includes a 12,000-word biography of Kelly. The work chronicles Kelly’s tumultuous time while working for the twice-impeached former president.
Kelly learned after he came in as Trump’s chief of staff in July 2017 that Ivanka wanted to take over title of first lady from Melania. https://t.co/KSLKCCdg0U
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) January 17, 2023
Schmidt Details John Kelly’s Reportedly Flippant Tasks At The White House
At the White House, as Schmidt said in a new interview, Kelly was frequently tending to frivolous tasks— like being instructed to tell former aide Omarosa to “stop having parties at the White House pool.”
“Here’s John Kelly, right, concerned that we could be on the brink of war with North Korea, trying to mitigate these issues that are not as serious but were front and center in the Trump White House where things were off the rails,” Schmidt said.
In a new afterword for Donald Trump v. The United States, Schmidt also noted that Kelly was worried when former President Trump wanted to drop a nuclear bomb on North Korea— and blaming it on someone else— back in 2017.
Before John Kelly became chief of staff, he thought the chaos at the White House was due to the people around Trump. He quickly learned he was wrong. @nytmike joins me today. https://t.co/tonSw9aZzy
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) January 19, 2023
Kelly Also Allegedly Mediated Conflicts Between Melania & Ivanka Trump
In addition, Kelly was reportedly mediating conflicts between Melania and Ivanka Trump as they competed for influence.
The former advisor to the president/ First Daughter, 41, and First Lady, 52, would often get into fights, Schmidt told MSNBC, since Ivanka wanted to be the First Lady in a “ceremonial” sense.
Trump discussed using a nuclear weapon against North Korea and placing the blame on another country, according to @nytmike’s book on the Trump presidency https://t.co/Nw3moelAFz
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) January 15, 2023
“John Kelly is probably as serious a national security figure as you can find, a four-star Marine general,” Schmidt said, adding, “He comes into the White House, he thinks that he needs to put in structure and better staffing for Trump and all of a sudden, he’s confronting far more frivolous issues like fights between the first lady and Ivanka Trump, and Ivanka Trump trying to maneuver, what Kelly was told, to become the first lady in this ceremonial ways.”
