(Newser) – Outgoing White House chief of staff Reince Priebus says that he formally resigned from his job after it became clear the president wanted to go in a different direction, the AP reports. Priebus tells CNN that he resigned on Thursday; President Trump announced the staff shakeup in a tweet Friday. Trump has picked Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new chief of staff. Priebus says he supports the president and that he's "doing great" personally. Priebus says he intends to continue working at the White House for a couple of weeks to ease the transition of his replacement. Priebus calls Kelly a "brilliant pick" and says he himself remains a Trump fan.

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary and new White House chief of staff John Kelly is thanking the staff at DHS for the opportunity to serve as their secretary. Kelly says in a statement that, when he left the Marines, he never thought he would find as committed, as professional, as patriotic a group of individuals. He says he was wrong. Kelly says that he is "honored to be asked" to take the chief of staff job. (Read more Reince Priebus stories.)

