When Gen. John Kelly became White House chief of staff on July 31, 2017, the only variable was when, not if, the following would be written: “White House officials are hoping that Kelly will be able to resign instead of being fired by tweet. First Lady Melania Trump has been urging the president not to fire a four-star general but instead allow him to leave on his own terms.”

Ironically, that paragraph, which appeared in Politico on Dec. 7., neatly summarizes why Kelly was destined to fail: Trump’s brand is chaos.