White House Chief of Staff John Kelly expected to bring order, discipline to Trump White House

IVANKA Trump and Jared Kushner have copped a rude awakening from her father Donald Trump’s “new sheriff” in the White House.

It could be a rude awakening for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner under the new White House Sheriff. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Tasos Katopodis

THERE’S a new sheriff in town, and he ain’t afraid to show the locals who’s boss.

White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly has wasted no time stamping his authority on his new role, replacing the Trump administration’s chaotic factions with a military-style chain of command.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed on his first day, all staff would report into Kelly to give him “full authority” and bring “new structure, discipline and strength” to the team.

When asked whether this included Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon, Sanders was emphatic.

“That includes everybody at the White House,” she said. “General Kelly I think will bring new structure to the White House and discipline and strength. And we’re all really excited to work with him.”

President Donald Trump sits down with new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly who he predicts will be one of the “greatest” in the role. Picture: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will report into Kelly. Picture: AFP/ Filippo MONTEFORTE

Kelly made headlines on his first day when he sacked controversial communications director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days on the job. While Sanders would not be drawn on the “tick tock” timeline of his dismissal, she said both the President and Kelly wanted him out.

“Look, the President certainly felt that Anthony’s comments were inappropriate for a person in that position,” she said in reference to Scaramucci’s expletive-laden rant against former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

“And he didn’t want to burden General Kelly also with that line of succession. As I think we’ve made clear a few times over the course of the last couple of days to several of you individually, but General Kelly has the full authority to operate within the White House, and all staff will report to him.”

Anthony Scaramucci was the first casualty of Kelly’s new world order. It’s believed Kelly thought Scaramucci’s foul-mouthed rant was undisciplined and embarrassing. Picture: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

The installation of the widely-respected General with more than 45 years military experience is expected to usher in a new sense of discipline for the administration. So far, progress has been largely bogged down by fighting factions and wrong-footed by a President partial to making major policy announcements and attacking critics on Twitter.

On Monday, Trump welcomed Kelly sitting down as he would with world leaders and declared he would go down as one of the “greatest ever” in the position.

“We all know him, we respect him, admire what he’s done,” Trump said.

Kelly has already earned a reputation for showing his mettle against leaders.

During his confirmation hearing for the Homeland Security role in January he said he “never had a problem speaking truth to power, and I firmly believe that those in power deserve full candour and my honest assessment and recommendations.”

He has also played a key role in moderating and implementing some of Trump’s hard-line decisions on immigration.

Hours after Trump said deportations would be carried out as a “military operation” Kelly clarified the US would not be using the army to enforce immigration laws.

He has also worked to address the implementation of Trump’s travel with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, despite being blindsided by it.

The Associated Press reports the two retired generals agreed one of them should remain in the White House at all times to keep tabs on what would emerge during the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.

Kelly is thought to have formed a pact with Jim Mattis for one of them to always be in the White House, the AP reports. Picture: AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON

Blain Rethmeier, who guided Kelly through the Senate confirmation process for the Homeland Security post, said his appointment “definitely has the fingerprints of a new sheriff in town.”

Rethmeier said Kelly commands respect and has gained a reputation for not shying away from unpopular opinions.

“That’s something that Trump sort of smells out, if you respect him or not,” Rethmeier said. “If he disagrees with you, he’ll disagree respectfully.”

Senator Bob Corker said he hopes Kelly “will do everything possible to bring the appropriate discipline and focus that needs to be at the White House there.”

“I hope that General Kelly will absolutely, forcefully clean the place up,” Corker said. “And anybody who’s been a violator, who’s been a part of public backbiting, part of undermining, who’s been part of feathering their own nest at other people’s expense, I hope they’ll all be gone.”

Kelly will install a military-style chain of command that will bring factions inside the White House into line. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Mike Theiler and Molly Riley.

Political science professor David Cohen, who is writing a book about chiefs of staff, applauded Kelly for doing “things that should have been done on Day One of Reince Priebus’s tenure.”

He said Scaramucci’s removal sent a clear message “that going off-script and being undisciplined” would no longer be tolerated at the White House.

However he also wondered how long it would be before Trump started to undermine Kelly.

“None of this works if the President doesn’t buy into this 100 per cent,” he said.

“President Trump is his own worst enemy. He instinctively likes to be his own chief of staff and he’s a pretty awful one. Will he be able to resist messing with the system once John Kelly cleans everything up? Will he listen to his chief of staff when Kelly has to tell Trump, ‘No?"’ he asked. “I’m not sure President Trump is wired to be able to listen to that type of criticism,” he said.

— With Vivian Salama, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly