Donald Trump 'thinks about sacking and not replacing' White House Chief of Staff John Kelly

Donald Trump is said to have considered firing his White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and not naming a successor in the midst of a massive White House shake-up.

Citing three people familiar with the discussions, NBC News reported that Mr Trump threw out the idea to his close associates that he could run the West Wing by serving as his own chief of staff, similar to how he ran his own business empire.

The President appears to have tabled the suggestion for now, the news outlet said.

The report came after Mr Trump announced that he was replacing his National Security Adviser, HR McMaster, with former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired last week, and top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned earlier this month.

Mr Kelly is Mr Trump’s second chief of staff in the year and four months the real estate mogul has been President.

There have been multiple reports that the retired four-star Marine general has considered resigning from his gatekeeper role - but Mr Kelly has debunked those rumours.

Mr Trump has reportedly considered the idea of not replacing Mr Kelly if he left, NBC reported, apparently liking the idea of having unfettered access to outsiders and fewer roadblocks to decision making.

Last year, Mr Kelly made moves to control the information Mr Trump sees and who has access to the President.

The president’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, suggested the President should become his own chief of staff if Mr Kelly ever departed.

“I’ve actually argued that if General Kelly at any time does decide to leave - (or) the president decides it’s time for him to move on - I don’t believe there will be another chief of staff,” Mr Bannon said at a Financial Times forum. “I think there will be five or six direct reports like there was in Trump Tower.”