Reince Priebus was sacked as White House chief of staff on Friday evening after a turbulent six-month tenure, dominated by infighting and policy paralysis, as Donald Trump moved retired Gen John Kelly from the Department of Homeland Security to take over the role.

The shake-up comes at the end of an extraordinary week marked by the eruption of private feuding into public view.

A day earlier, Mr Trump’s new communications director was caught out describing Mr Priebus as “paranoid” during a foul-mouthed tirade that exposed the deep divisions inside a troubled White House.