President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that he's having no trouble finding a new chief of staff and that he is in “no rush” to fill the job, despite having already burned through two such top aides and being turned down by his reported first choice.

“We have a lot of great people for chief of staff, a lot of people want the job,” he told reporters Tuesday, sitting alongside Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office. “A lot of people wanted to have it, and a lot of friends of mine want it, a lot of people that Chuck and Nancy know very well want it, I think people you’d like. and we have a lot of people who want the job chief of staff, and so we’ll be seeing what happens very soon.”


Trump’s rebuttals come as his current chief of staff, John Kelly, is set to depart the White House at the end of the month without a clear replacement. The president’s rumored top pick, vice presidential chief of staff Nick Ayers, turned the job down in favor of working for a PAC to support the administration.

The president’s lack of urgency in naming Kelly’s replacement may betray his assurances that there’s plenty of interest in the job. Some White House officials are already floating the idea he may move back his departure date. While Trump told reporters over the weekend that Kelly would leave by the end of the year, White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, who has been floated for the job herself, said Tuesday that Kelly is staying on "through Jan. 2" and possibly longer if the president or Kelly wished.

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And Trump himself declared to reporters that he was “in no rush” to replace Kelly “because we have a wonderful chief of staff right now.”

“We are in no rush. Over a period of a week or two or maybe less, we will announce who it is going to be, but we have a lot of people that want the position,” he said.


Trump is also said to have looked at Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who was considered to be angling for the job at one point but who may now have his eye on leading the Commerce Department; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has said he’s happy in his current post; conservative firebrand Rep. Mark Meadows, who said Monday he would be “honored” to take the role; and New York Yankees President Randy Levine, who said Monday that rumors of his consideration had come out of left field.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and former Trump campaign official David Bossie have also been mentioned as contenders.

Trump on Tuesday morning wrote on Twitter that it was “Fake News” that he didn’t have a backup plan in case Ayers rejected the offer.

“Many, over ten, are vying for and wanting the White House Chief of Staff position,” Trump said. “Why wouldn’t someone want one of the truly great and meaningful jobs in Washington. Please report news correctly. Thank you!”


But there are fears in Washington that while the chief of staff position was once a springboard to higher power, Trump’s divisiveness and his refusal to be corralled has corroded the reputation of the president’s top adviser.

While previous White House chiefs of staff have gone on to high-ranking cabinet positions like defense secretary or CIA director or have successfully run for higher office like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Trump’s first chief of staff Reince Priebus was reportedly mocked behind Trump’s back and ultimately sidelined before being deserted on a rainy airport tarmac.

Kelly has also seen his influence diminished in the White House as he failed to tame Trump’s more impulsive side and spent much of his tenure defending his seemingly exasperated body language and reports that he once called the president an “idiot.”

