- White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is reportedly expected to leave his job in the next few days.
- Sources told CNN that he plans to resign as his relationship with the president has become untenable and the pair have stopped speaking.
- Sources also told Axios that West Wing officials widely expect Kelly to depart soon.
- Trump has reportedly tried to fire Kelly before, though Trump said in October that Kelly is “doing a very good job.”
- Kelly had previously agreed to stay in the role until 2020.
White House staff reportedly believe that Chief of Staff John Kelly plans to resign in the next few days after his feud with President Donald Trump has become so bad that the pair has stopped speaking.
Two sources familiar with the situation in the West Wing told CNN that Kelly and Trump view their relationship as untenable and that the two have recently stopped speaking.
Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, CNN reported, though a source said that nothing has been finalized yet.
The news was first reported by Axios, who said that West Wing officials widely believe Kelly will leave soon and that Nick Ayers, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, will replace him.
CNN also reported that Ayers is a potential replacement for Kelly. Reports that Trump wanted to replace Kelly with Ayers have dated back to 2017.
Read More: Meet Nick Ayers, the leading candidate to take over for John Kelly as White House chief of staff
Speculation has long swirled over Kelly's future in the role amid multiple reports of repeated clashes between him and Trump.
In November, it was reported that Kelly may leave his position soon due to repeated clashes with First Lady Melania Trump. NBC News reported that Kelly refused to promote some of her aides, prompting Trump to tell his chief of staff to give his wife what she wants.
A spokeswoman for the first lady then told INSIDER that Kelly and Melania have "a very positive relationship."
Trump has reportedly tried to fire Kelly before, but failed because Trump usually asks Kelly to fire people for him.
But Trump has said that he intends to keep Kelly, and said in October that Kelly is "doing a very good job."
"We have a very good relationship. The White House is running very, very smoothly," he told New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
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Kelly told staffers in July that he would stay on until 2020 at Trump's own request, despite widespread expectation that he would leave the role after the one-year mark.
Kelly tried to serve as the buffer between Trump and his impulsive nature, but appeared to have stopped trying, Politico reported in June.
Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general who served as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the first months of 2017, took over from former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus in July 2017.