--- title: John Kelly Says He's Never Considered Quitting White House description: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said in a new interview that he's never considered quitting his post as a top Trump adviser. canonical: https://time.com/5274000/john-kelly-donald-trump-resign/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-11T12:55:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:27.067Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly Says He's Never Considered Quitting og:description: He says he has a "close relationship" with Trump og:url: https://time.com/5274000/john-kelly-donald-trump-resign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f8f99e6ef97a59/69893027ab6d7779596b2a1c/john-kelly-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4772 og:image:height: 2684 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump Receives Briefing From Senior Military Leadership og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly Says He's Never Considered Quitting twitter:description: He says he has a "close relationship" with Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6f8f99e6ef97a59/69893027ab6d7779596b2a1c/john-kelly-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly Says He's Never Considered Quitting > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Insists He Isn't Quitting or Getting Fired [Watch (HLS stream): White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Insists He Isn't Quitting or Getting Fired](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Huzg6FGE.m3u8) (0:47)  _Published 2017-10-12. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly says he's not quitting, getting fired or firing anyone else, "unless things change."_ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 11, 2018 12:55 PM UTC  John Kelly, White House chief of staff, listens as U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, speaks during a meeting with senior military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, April 9, 2018. John Kelly, White House chief of staff, listens as U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, speaks during a meeting with senior military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, April 9, 2018. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. May 11, 2018 12:55 PM UTC White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said in a new interview that he’s never considered quitting his post, despite longtime [speculation over how long he will remain](http://time.com/5118990/donald-trump-john-kelly-chief-staff/) as a top adviser to President Donald Trump Kelly told NPR that he and Trump have a “close relationship,” often spending up to eight hours each day together. Kelly said he tries to “speak truth to power.” “I always give my opinion on everything. He always listens,” Kelly said. “Sometimes he takes the opinion, sometimes he doesn’t.” Kelly rebuffed questions over whether he had seriously thought about leaving the White House, though he acknowledged “times of great frustration,” which he mostly attributed to news coverage of him and his colleagues. In fact, Kelly said he wished he could have started his White House job sooner than last July, when Trump announced he would [replace former chief of staff Reince Priebus](http://time.com/4879260/donald-trump-reince-priebus-john-kelly/). “It’s not that things were a disaster that first six months but I believe they could have been better,” he said. “In retrospect, I wish I had been here from day one.” ## Transcript I'm not quitting today. [ LAUGH ] I don't believe, and I just talked to the President, I don't think I'm being fired today. And I am not so frustrated in this job that I'm thinking of leaving. I would tell you, this is the hardest job I've ever had This is in my view the most important job I ever had. I would offer though, it is not the best job I ever had. The best job I ever had, as I've said many times, is when I was an enlisted marine Sargeant infantry man. That was the best job I ever had. So unless things change, I'm not quitting. 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