White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has denied calling President Donald Trump "an Idiot" after an NBC News report, citing unnamed sources, detailed comments Kelly made during a tense immigration-related meeting.
The network also reported Kelly, who took over as chief of staff last July, said he needed to “save (Trump) from himself.”
Kelly told the president Monday afternoon that the report was untrue.
"I spend more time with the president than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship. He always knows where I stand and he and I both know this story is total BS," Kelly said in a statement to NBC.
"I am committed to the president, his agenda and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration's many successes," he said.
Trump also tweeted about the report, calling it "false," but tensions between the two men have been increasing in recent months since the controversy in January over former staff secretary Rob Porter and accusations he abused two ex-wives. Kelly first defended Porter and questioned the ex-wives' allegations until pictures surfaced of one of the women with a black eye. The incident also put the White House vetting process under a spotlight after it was learned that Porter was not vetted properly and had not received top-secret security clearance.
In another recent incident, Kelly told national security officials that the president was "unhinged," according to a CNN report, which cited senior administration officials. Kelly did not respond to that allegation.
The Kelly so-called “idiot” incident is similar to an episode last summer when then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump “a moron” after an especially intense meeting. Tillerson, however, refused to apologize or deny that he made the remark.
Trump fired Tillerson in March via tweet.
