John Kelly listens as Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting. By Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

Saturday, July 28, marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump hiring General John Kelly as his chief of staff. The date is significant because many West Wing staffers have assumed for months that the long-suffering Kelly intended to make it to the one-year mark before he resigned, according to Republicans close to the White House. Trump also has been operating under the impression that Kelly has one foot out the door. Earlier this year, Trump sidelined Kelly and openly called him a “nutjob” to friends, basically governing as if Kelly wasn’t there. Sources said Trump’s humiliation of Kelly had an intent: to get Kelly to quit.

The problem for Trump is that Kelly appears to be burrowing in rather than stepping away. Earlier this month, Kelly went to the Oval Office and told Trump, “I intend to leave on my own timeline,” according to two Republicans familiar with the conversation. One Republican familiar with Kelly’s thinking said Kelly’s view is that it would be more humiliating to quit than stay, even though he’s become irrelevant in the job.

The stalemate has produced a petty and toxic environment in the West Wing, where Kelly at times seems to be working at cross-purposes to his boss, and Trump openly mocks him. Cameras caught Kelly visibly grimacing as Trump harangued NATO allies during the recent summit. Last week, I reported that Kelly called Republicans on Capitol Hill, and encouraged them to criticize Trump’s disastrous press conference with Vladimir Putin. West Wing aides, meanwhile, have taken to leaving Kelly off the calendar for meetings. Sources close to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump told me the couple believes Kelly has been bad-mouthing them and leaking damaging articles about them. Sources said Trump has told his new deputy chief of staff for communications, Bill Shine, to begin overseeing White House personnel decisions—a key part of Kelly’s portfolio.

Given how bad things are, it seems obvious that Trump should fire Kelly and put everyone out of their misery. What’s preventing that, a source said, is that Trump venerates Kelly’s military service and does not want to fire him; he’d rather he quits. “It’s the four stars and the Gold Star—Trump really respects that,” the Republican who spoke with Trump recently told me. Kelly is essentially calling Trump’s bluff. As Kelly twists, the shadow race for chief of staff continues. According to one former West Wing official, the two leading contenders right now are budget director Mick Mulvaney and Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers. Outside allies have been pushing Stephen Schwarzman’s adviser Wayne Berman.

Chief of staff isn’t the only high-ranking West Wing position Trump may have to fill soon. Sources told me Trump is losing patience with Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who’s already signaled she intends to leave later this year. One Republican close to the White House said Trump views Sanders as a Kelly loyalist who doesn’t defend Trump forcefully enough. Sanders refused to hold an on-camera briefing for two days during the child-separation crisis. The source added that Trump was annoyed that Sanders released a statement blaming Kelly’s grimace at the NATO summit on the slim breakfast menu. “He thought that was cheesy and lame. Trump wants fighters, not jokers,” the source said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.