President Donald Trump has announced White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will stay on in his role as acting White House Chief of Staff.
The news comes following a CNN report that Mulvaney had lost the confidence of the President, and was likely to be replaced with former Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) within the coming weeks.
“That was a false report. I have a great relationship with Mick. I have a great relationship with Mark. And it’s false,” Trump said.
The White House subsequently issued an official statement on the matter.
“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that at the end of a week when the President was totally acquitted, CNN is turning to palace intrigue stories,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere added.
“As he indicated in his State of the Union address this week, President Trump is focused on delivering results for the American people. We have no personnel announcements at this time.”
The CNN report stated that Meadows, who is retiring from Congress, had the support of Trump’s powerful son-in-law, Jared Kushner, should he seek the position of Chief of Staff. It also suggested that even if Meadows did not join the administration as Chief of Staff, he could assume the post of White House Chief Strategist, which has been vacant since the departure of Steve Bannon in August 2017.
Meadows and Mulvaney have a close relationship, with both men having a background in the libertarian-leaning Freedom Caucus. Meadows played reading role in defending the President during both the House and Senate stages of the impeachment process.