White House spokeswoman will not say if Trump has confidence in chief of staff Priebus
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House press secretary would not say on Thursday whether President Donald Trump had confidence in chief of staff Reince Priebus, who was challenged by the president's new communications director to prove he is not leaking information to reporters. There has been frequent speculation that Priebus, who chaired the Republican National Committee during last year's campaign and steered the party apparatus behind Trump unorthodox candidacy, is on his way out because of Trump's lack of major legislative achievements in his first six months in office. Anthony Scaramucci, brought in by Trump last week to head White House communications, appeared to suggest on Wednesday in a tweet, later deleted, that the FBI investigate Priebus over a leak of Scaramucci's financial records. "If Reince wants to explain he's not a leaker, let him do that," Scaramucci said on CNN's "New Day" on Thursday. Scaramucci also compared his relationship with Priebus to that of a pair of brothers from the Bible, one of whom killed the other. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked at the daily news briefing if Trump had confidence in Priebus, did not say yes or no. "We all serve at the pleasure of the president and if it gets to a place where that isn't the place, he'll let you know," Sanders said. She added that Trump "hires the very best people" who are not always going to agree and that he supports "healthy competition, and with that competition you usually get the best results." Priebus was silent on the broadside from Scaramucci, whom Priebus had sought to block from a White House job, according to officials. Priebus' allies said Trump's hiring of Scaramucci, which prompted press secretary Sean Spicer to resign, was a bad omen for Priebus. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan defended Priebus on Thursday. The two men, both from Wisconsin, are close. "Reince is doing a fantastic job at the White House and I believe he has the president's confidence. If those two gentlemen have differences, my advice would be to sit down and settle your differences," Ryan told a news conference. Trump allies saw the drama playing out as a sign that the group of original Trump supporters was growing weary of Priebus and the RNC faction he brought with him. "I think there is a widespread feeling among Trump supporters that he's never been a real supporter of Donald Trump and that he isn't playing to win on the president's behalf," said an outside Trump adviser. "After six months of this, time is up." (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Will Dunham; Editing by Peter Cooney)
