President Trump said Friday that he and John Kelly have “a great relationship,” and rejected press reports that say that his relationship with the White House chief of staff is growing strained.
“We have a great relationship. He’s doing a great job as chief of staff. I could not be more happy,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Texas.
[Related: Trump slams ‘totally unhinged’ media after anonymous sources say John Kelly is on the outs]
“The New York Times has falsely reported, they have said things that are absolutely false,” he said, appearing to refer to a Wednesday report that the men “have grown tired and irritated with each other.”
The Times reported that Kelly tells colleagues, “I don’t need this.” Earlier in the week, news outlets reported that he called Trump “an idiot.”
Kelly was invited by Trump to address the small group of reporters gathered on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. He offered effusive praise for Trump.
“I would just say it’s an absolute privilege to work for a president that has gotten the economy going, we’re about to have a breakthrough I believe on North Korea, the jobs report today — I mean, everything is going phenomenally well, attacking the opioid crisis,” he said.
Kelly added: “it’s nothing less than brilliant what has been accomplished in 15 months.”
