New chief of staff reportedly told Sessions his job is not in danger

Shortly after he was named President Trump's new chief of staff, John Kelly called Attorney General Jeff Sessions and let him know that despite Trump's very public criticism, his job is safe, two people familiar with the call told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Kelly made the call on Saturday, telling Sessions that Trump, while still annoyed with him, has no plans to fire him and does not want him to resign, AP reports. Kelly and Sessions have a relationship, having traveled in April to the Mexican border when Kelly was still in charge of Homeland Security; there, they discussed immigration.

Trump has been upset with Sessions ever since he recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which helped usher in the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He had been keeping his anger under a lid, but started making public comments a few weeks ago, telling The New York Times he never would have picked Sessions had he known he was going to recuse himself and calling Sessions "beleaguered" on Twitter.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up