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Trump names Mick Mulvaney acting White House chief of staff

Update 5:23 p.m. EDT Dec. 14: In a tweet Friday, President Donald Trump named Mick Mulvaney, the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget, as acting White House Chief of Staff.

Trump deemed Mulvaney his "acting chief of staff" but it was not immediately clear what that meant for the length of his tenure.

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President Donald Trump said Saturday that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will leave his position by the end of the year.

The president’s first choice was Nick Ayers, the vice president’s chief of staff, who bowed out after being unable to come to an agreement on how long he would serve in the post.

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Trump announced last week that Kelly, who served in the post for more than a year, would soon be departing.

Rumors have swirled off-and-on for months that Kelly, a retired four-star general, planned to leave his post.

Sources with knowledge of the inner workings of the West Wing told CNN that President Donald Trump and Kelly have recently stopped speaking.

He reportedly clashed with several members of the administration, including national security adviser John Bolton, the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Politico reported. Tension between Bolton and Kelly spilled out into the public earlier this year when The Washington Post reported Kelly stormed out of the White House after getting into a shouting match with Bolton over immigration.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Kelly expected to make his exit over the summer, but the newspaper later reported that he agreed to stay on through the 2020 election at the president's request.

Reports indicate that the relationship between Trump and Kelly has long been fraught with tension. Former FBI director James Comey said in his book, "A Higher Loyalty," that Kelly was "sick about my firing" in May 2017 and that he intended to quit in protest of Trump's decision.

Comey said he urged Kelly not to quit.

NBC News reported in April that Kelly called Trump "an idiot" who he needed to "save from himself" during a tense meeting on immigration. Kelly later denied making such a statement and claimed he and the president had "an incredibly candid and strong relationship," according to NBC News.

Kelly faced criticism earlier this year after two of former staff secretary Rob Porter's ex-wives went public with allegations of domestic abuse. Porter denied the allegations, but submitted his resignation Feb. 7 amid public outcry.

In a statement released after the revelations first surfaced, Kelly stood behind Porter, who he called "a man of true integrity and honor." He appeared to walk back his comments in a subsequent statement, amid criticism based on reports that the White House knew of the allegations long before Porter's resignation.

The allegations held up the security clearance process for Porter, who was only ever issued a temporary clearance. Amid the media furor, Kelly moved to end or downgrade temporary clearances for all staff members, including some, like Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had regular access to top secret U.S. documents.

Kelly joined the Trump Administration as the secretary of Homeland Security in January 2017. Six months later, he was appointed as chief of staff after Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Preibus, submitted his resignation amid tension with Trump.

Reuters reported in February that Kelly and Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster were considering leaving their posts because of the way they were treated by Trump in public.

Unidentified sources told Reuters that "Kelly and McMaster have chafed at Trump's treatment of them in public and in private, which both at times have considered insulting."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.