White House has underscored that United States President Donald Trump is "very happy" with chief of staff John Kelly, exhibiting an apparent indifferent tone to the reports doing the round that Kelly called Trump an "idiot."
"Both the president and the chief of staff are very happy with the position he holds, which is chief of staff to the president," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
According to the NBC News report, Kelly "has referred to Trump as 'an idiot' multiple times to underscore his point, according to four officials who say they've witnessed the comments."
The report quoted officials as saying Kelly portrays himself as fighting a lonely battle to curb Trump's erratic impulses and preventing Trump from making reckless policy decisions.
However, Kelly denied calling Trump an "idiot" and has branded the report as "total BS".
"I spend more time with the President than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship. He always knows where I stand and he and I both know this story is total BS," CNN reported, Kelly as saying in a statement.
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"I am committed to the President, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration's many successes," the statement added.
On a related note, the White House press secretary also clarified that Trump is not considering moving Kelly into a Cabinet post.
The spokesperson rejected reports that the president is likely to nominate Kelly to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"No, he is not being considered as the VA secretary," Sanders said.
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