Trump says Kelly doing a 'fantastic job,' Kelly says President Trump has done 'phenomenal' job
Trump: Kelly doing a "fantastic job". Kelly: Trump's doing a "brilliant' job
President Donald Trump brought Chief of Staff John Kelly before cameras Friday in a seemingly public show of the strength of their relationship in the wake of reporting earlier this week that their bond has soured in recent months.
“General Kelly is doing a fantastic job, there has been such false reporting about our relationship we have a great relationship,” the president told reporters, with Kelly at his side, on the tarmac of Andrews Air Force Base before boarding Air Force One.
“I could not be more happy so I just want to tell you that,” the president said. “The New York Times has falsely reported, they've said things that are absolutely false and I just want to tell you that.”
The president appeared to be referencing a New York Times report published Thursday that the two men have become tired and irritated with one another. That report came on the heels of another report by NBC earlier this week that alleged Kelly had called the president an “idiot” and that fissures in their relationship had formed in recent months.
In the wake of the NBC News report earlier this week, Kelly issued a rare statement to refute the story as “total BS.”
“I spend more time with the President than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship. He always knows where I stand and he and I both know this story is total BS," Kelly says in a statement.
An NBC News spokesperson directed questions about the comments back to the original reporting.
On Friday, the president prompted Kelly to also make remarks to cameras after he offered the compliments of his chief of staff.
Kelly then offered laudatory comments about the president’s performance, saying what he’s accomplished as president is “nothing less than brilliant.”
“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 has gone phenomenally well, attacking the opioid crisis, it's nothing less than brilliant what's been accomplished in the last 15 months, I believe."