DRAMA

Report: Trump Tells Priebus to Fix White House by July 4

Or face dismissal.

President Donald Trump has reportedly given his Chief of Staff Reince Priebus an ultimatum in a bid to drastically transform his administration: Clean up the White House by July 4 or face dismissal. Politico on Sunday cited two administration officials and three outside advisers familiar with the matter, all of whom described a crisis playing out behind the scenes as the Russia investigation brings more scrutiny to the White House. The trouble began when Trump returned last month from his first foreign trip and scolded Priebus in front of his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie for allowing dysfunction in the White House, according to the report. At that time, Trump was said to be considering enlisting Bossie as his deputy chief of staff and Lewandowski as a senior adviser, but he decided to give Priebus more time to turn things around. “I’m giving you until July 4,” one of the sources cited by Politico recalled the president saying. “I don’t want them to come into this mess. If I’m going to clean house, they will come in as fresh blood.” The report cited a White House official and another outside adviser as saying Trump has openly proposed finding a new chief of staff, even holding a brainstorming session about a potential successor after the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in February. White House press secretary Sean Spicer denied the July 4 deadline in a statement Sunday, however. “Whoever is saying that is either a liar or out of the loop,” he said.