Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway refuses to say if all White House staff will report directly to new chief of staff

A senior adviser to Donald Trump has refused to say whether she and all the staff in the White House will now report directly to the President’s new chief of staff.

Mr Trump announced he was replacing Reince Priebus with former four star John Kelly, amid anger over repeated leaks and stalled legislative process.

One of the issues, commentators said, was that Mr Priebus was unable to enforce the usual West Wing discipline in where various officials would report to him, rather than the president. Mr Trump’s Director of Communications, Anthony Scaramucci, one of those behind the move to push out Mr Priebus, bragged that he reported directly to the President.

On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr Trump declined to say whether everyone in the White House would now report to Mr Kelly, when he starts in the new role this week.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Ms Conway was asked whether she would report directly to the former Marine general.

“I will do whatever the president and our new chief of staff, Gen Kelly, will ask me to do,” said Ms Conway. “I’m always a protocol-and-pecking-order kind of gal. I’m a very deferential person. I never addressed the President, even when he was a candidate - as close as we are, as boss and employee, I’ve never addressed him by his first name. I always address people like Gen Kelly as sir.”

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When the anchor persisted with his question, asking whether she and Mr Scaramucci would follow the normal chain of command utilised by previous administrations, she said she looked forward to talking to Mr Kelly on Monday. She said she suspected Mr Scaramucci would have a similar conversation.

“I will speak with Gen Kelly and the President about that as, I’m sure, Anthony Scaramucci will,” she said.

To those living outside of Washington’s political bubble, Ms Conway’s comments may appear unremarkable. But administrations succeed or fail on the amount of discipline they are able to enforce on the various, competing factions that surround any president.

All West Wings contain various officials seeking for leverage and access to the president and most see their fortunes rise and fall. But Mr Trump’s White House has been notable for the number of competing factions - one Washington journalist said she had identified at least six - all aggressively vying for influence.

Indeed, Mr Trump appears to have encouraged such scrapping and plotting, believing such methods have served him well in business, as well as for plot lines for The Apprentice.

Yet critics of Mr Trump say he is inclined to make a decision about any issue based on what the last person he spoke to on the issue said. The situation inside the Trump White House is made even more chaotic by the presence not simply of people who are sworn enemies - Mr Scaramucci and Mr Priebus apparently despised each other - but the President’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Both during the campaign and since he entered the Oval Office six months ago, Mr Trump has leaned heavily on Mr Kushner, a real estate developer with no political experience. Such is the level of trust Mr Trump places in his son-in-law, that Mr Kushner has been tasked with bringing peace to the Middle East and heading the US’s relationship with China.

Will Mr Trump’s daughter and her husband now be required to go through Mr Kelly if they wish to whisper a word in his ear? Furthermore, will Mr Trump fall into line with the discipline Mr Kelly has apparently been brought in to provide?

Mr Kelly served more than four decades in the military and did three tours of Iraq. Until last Friday, he was the head of Mr Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. Mr Trump’s aides have said that Mr Kelly will now be helping kickstart the President’s legislative agenda that has become stalled.

The Washington Post quoted an unidentified friend of Mr Kelly who said he was ready to confront the “reality TV nature of the West Wing”.

“He knows how to do this: with common sense and good leadership,” said the friend. “He won’t suffer idiots and fools.”