Trump Claims Many ‘Great’ Chief Candidates After Top Choice Turns Him Down

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said that “a lot of great people” want to be his chief of staff and he’ll make a decision on a replacement for John Kelly within a week or two.

“We have a lot of great people for chief of staff,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’re in no rush.”

Trump tried to replace Kelly with Vice President Mike Pence’s top aide, Nick Ayers, over the weekend, but Ayers turned down the job and said he’d leave the White House at the end of the year. Kelly will remain in his job until at least Jan. 2, Kellyanne Conway, a top aide to Trump, said on Fox News earlier Tuesday.

The Ayers drama has created yet another personnel crisis for Trump, whose administration has been marked by high turnover in the West Wing. He’s considering a number of candidates to replace Kelly, including Representative Mark Meadows and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, but no clear favorite has yet emerged.

Other people Trump’s actively considering include Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and David Bossie, a former Trump deputy campaign manager.

Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning that “over ten” people were interested in the job.

“A lot of great people want the job,” Trump told reporters at the White House while meeting with the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

“Lot of people,” he continued. “And I have some great people. A lot of friends of mine want it. A lot of people that Chuck and Nancy know very well, and I think people you’d like. We have a lot of people who want the job of chief of staff. So we’ll be seeing what happens very soon.”

Asked why he wasn’t in a rush to fill the job, Trump said: “We have a wonderful chief of staff right now.”

“Happy Christmas if I don’t see you,” Kelly remarked to reporters as they left the Oval Office.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning

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