Carlos Barria/Reuters
Amid increasing chaos in the White House, President Trump’s chief of staff told a group of visiting senators last week that the West Wing is a “miserable place to work,” according to a source cited by The New York Times. Kelly is reportedly among the top White House aides considering a departure, along with deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, Trump’s point person on the upcoming North Korea summit. The Washington Post first reported last week that Hagin is mulling a move to the CIA once the Trump-Kim summit wraps up in Singapore. The president is said to be indifferent to the exodus of aides expected after November midterm elections and is more focused on spinning news coverage about trade, North Korea, and the numerous scandals overshadowing his presidency, including the Russia investigation. He has also reportedly intensified efforts to smoke out leakers, with at least one senior aide said to be deliberately planting false stories in the West Wing to see who relays them to the press.