White House chief of staff John Kelly told administration personnel to put country before the president, while warning against leaking classified information at a briefing he held after taking the White House helm late last week.
Kelly, a retired general, invoked the Marine Corps credo “God, Country, Corps” in laying out what he expects of staff, where country comes first, the president second, and their own needs and interests last, according to a Bloomberg report on a meeting Kelly had Friday with about 200 White House aides to tighten up the ranks.
Kelly, who was sworn in on Monday, stressed work ethic while warning them against leaking information to the press, which is a huge priority for President Trump. He was adamant that passing along even a small innocuous bit of classified information to someone without clearance constitutes a crime.
President @realDonaldTrump Chief of Staff, General John Kelly addresses WH staff yesterday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg. #MAGA?? pic.twitter.com/WCEs2GiRVl
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) August 5, 2017
The report, citing three unnamed sources, said Kelly is also reining in the president in imposing new oversight to constrain Trump’s Twitter account by offering advice on how to mitigate his often inflammatory tweets.
Nevertheless, Trump has made clear that he reserves the right to ignore advice on tweeting, according to the report.
