Donald Trump’s chief of staff has denied he is on the verge of quitting and hit out at media speculation about his job in an unexpected public appearance.

John Kelly, who has been in post less than three months, expressed frustration at reports about his future and urged journalists to get better sources.

“I’m not quitting, I’m not getting fired”, he said on Thursday during an unscheduled appearance at a regular White House press briefing.

It makes Mr Kelly the second senior Trump administration figure in as many weeks to go public about not quitting after a similar statement from Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State.

Mr Kelly also gave an insight into Mr Trump’s thinking, naming the press and Congress’s inability to pass legislation as his the US President’s biggest frustration.

And he said North Korea was the international situation that most concerned him, deviating from Mr Trump’s position by expressing hope that diplomacy would solve the crisis.