The hardest job in Washington? A look at those who have served as chief of staff for Trump

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets his campaign manager Susie Wiles (L) during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets his campaign manager Susie Wiles (L) during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 10 November 2024
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The hardest job in Washington? A look at those who have served as chief of staff for Trump

The hardest job in Washington? A look at those who have served as chief of staff for Trump

WASHINGTON: Susie Wiles will be the latest occupant of the hottest hot seat in Washington — Donald Trump’s chief of staff.

It’s a tough job under the best of circumstances, responsible for networking with lawmakers, administration officials and outside groups while also keeping the White House running smoothly.

But it’s been particularly challenging under Trump, who has a history of resenting anyone who tries to impose order on his chaotic management style. Four people served as chief of staff during his first term, and sometimes things ended on acrimonious terms.




This combination photo of President-elect Donald Trump's longtime friends, aides and allies shows Boris Epshteyn, from top row left, Richard Grenell, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Howard Lutnick, from center row left, Linda McMahon, Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Brooke Rollins and from bottom row left Lara Trump, Dana White and Susie Wiles. (AP)

Will past be prologue? It’s impossible to know. So far, Wiles has fared better than most in Trump’s orbit, and she just steered his presidential campaign to victory.

Here’s a look at who came before her.

Reince Priebus

Priebus chaired the Republican National Committee while Trump ran for president in 2016, and he became Trump’s first chief of staff in the White House. Priebus was symbolic of the awkward alliance between the party establishment and Trump’s insurgency, and he struggled to balance the two.

The White House was plagued by infighting and failed to advance legislative goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Priebus was sometimes viewed as untrustworthy by various factions vying for Trump’s favor. Anthony Scaramucci, who memorably but briefly served as Trump’s communications director, profanely attacked him for allegedly leaking information to the media.

Six months into his first term, Trump pushed out Priebus on July 28, 2017. The decision was announced on Twitter, which was par for the course in those tumultuous years.

John Kelly

Next up was Kelly, who had been Trump’s first Homeland Security secretary. Trump liked the way that Kelly, a former four-star Marine general who had served in Iraq, led his immigration crackdown.

But he soon became frustrated by Kelly’s attempts to impose military-style order on the chaotic White House. Kelly clashed with the president and some of his allies, ultimately becoming more isolated and less influential.

Trump appeared so eager to get rid of Kelly, he announced his departure on Dec. 8, 2018, without having a replacement lined up.

While Kelly served longer in the role than anyone else, his break with Trump was ultimately the most acrimonious. He described his former boss in acidic terms last month, saying Trump met the definition of a fascist and once praised Adolf Hitler as having done “some good things.”

Mick Mulvaney

It took days for Trump to settle on a replacement for Kelly, an unusual delay for a such a critical role. He chose Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman who was running the White House budget office at the time.

The decision came with an asterisk — Trump called Mulvaney his “acting” chief of staff, suggesting the position would be temporary.

Mulvaney abandoned Kelly’s strict management approach and decided to “let Trump be Trump.” Instead of managing the seemingly unmanageable president, Mulvaney focused on overseeing the staff and working with lawmakers.

He held the job for a little more than a year, departing on March 6, 2020, after Trump was acquitted in his first impeachment trial.

Mark Meadows

Trump turned to Meadows, a North Carolina congressman and leader of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, to serve as his fourth chief of staff. It was a challenging time, with the coronavirus spreading in the United States and around the globe.

Long viewed as one of the roadblocks to congressional deal-making, Meadows played a leading role in negotiating pandemic relief legislation. He also proved himself as a loyalist as Trump was running for reelection against Joe Biden. Meadows oversaw a White House awash in conspiracy theories about voter fraud as Trump tried to overturn his defeat.

A former aide said Meadows frequently burned papers in his office fireplace during this time. Meadows refused to cooperate with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, and he was indicted in election-related cases in Georgia and Arizona. He’s pleaded not guilty.

 


South Korea medical students end 17-month class boycott

South Korea medical students end 17-month class boycott
Updated 59 min 45 sec ago
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South Korea medical students end 17-month class boycott

South Korea medical students end 17-month class boycott
  • South Korean health care was plunged into chaos early last year when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to sharply increase medical school admissions
  • The initiative met fierce protest, prompting junior doctors to walk away from hospitals and medical students to boycott their classrooms

SEOUL: Thousands of South Korean medical students are set to return to classrooms after a 17-month boycott, an industry body said Monday, ending part of a standoff which also saw junior doctors strike.

South Korean health care was plunged into chaos early last year when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to sharply increase medical school admissions, citing an urgent need to boost doctor numbers to meet growing demand in a rapidly aging society.

The initiative met fierce protest, prompting junior doctors to walk away from hospitals and medical students to boycott their classrooms, with operations canceled and service provision disrupted nationwide.

The measure was later watered down, and the government eventually offered to scrap it in March 2025, after Yoon was impeached over his disastrous declaration of martial law.

“Students have agreed to return to school,” a spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association said Monday, adding that it was up to each medical school to decide the schedule for student returns.

The Korean Medical Students’ Association said in an earlier statement that the students had reached this decision because a continued boycott “could cause the collapse of the fundamentals of medical systems.”

Some 8,300 students are expected to return to school, but no specific timeline has been provided.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok welcomed the decision, calling it a “big step forward” in a Facebook post Sunday, adding President Lee Jae Myung was deliberating ways to solve the issue.

In addition to the student boycott, some 12,000 junior doctors went on strike last year – with the vast majority of them still declining to return to work.

Lee – who took office in June after winning snap elections following Yoon’s removal from office – had said on the campaign trail he would seek to resolve the medical strike.

The increase in medical school admissions led to a record number of students re-taking the college entrance exam in November in a bid to capitalize on reforms that made it easier to get into coveted majors.


Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners

Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners
Updated 14 July 2025
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Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners

Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners
  • They are among 45 opposition figures, including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy activists, who were sentenced in November
  • Authorities arrested figures from a broad cross-section of the city’s opposition in morning raids in 2021, a group later dubbed the ‘Hong Kong 47’

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court began hearing appeals on Monday from 12 democracy campaigners who were jailed for subversion last year during the city’s largest national security trial.

They were among 45 opposition figures, including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy activists, who were sentenced in November over a 2020 informal primary election that authorities deemed a subversive plot.

Critics including the United States, Britain and the European Union said the case showed how a Beijing-imposed national security law has eroded freedoms and quashed peaceful opposition in Hong Kong.

Ex-lawmakers “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan are among those contesting their convictions and sentences in hearings that are scheduled to last 10 days.

Owen Chow, a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail – the harshest penalty among the dozen – has also lodged an appeal.

Former district councilor Michael Pang withdrew his appeal application on Monday morning, leaving a total of 12 appellants.

Some of them have already spent more than four years behind bars.

Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks said the appeal will be a “pivotal test” for free expression in the Chinese finance hub.

“Only by overturning these convictions can Hong Kong’s courts begin to restore the city’s global standing as a place where rights are respected and where people are allowed to peacefully express their views without fear of arrest,” Brooks said.

Dozens of police officers were deployed outside the West Kowloon court building on Monday morning as people queued to attend the hearing.

“They made a sacrifice... I hope they understand that Hongkongers have not forgotten them,” said a public hospital worker in his thirties surnamed Chow.

A 66-year-old retiree surnamed Chan said the case made him feel “helpless,” adding that fewer people were paying attention as court proceedings dragged on.

“I don’t expect any (positive) outcome, but I still want to support them.”

Prosecutors began Monday’s session by challenging the acquittal of lawyer Lawrence Lau, one of two people found not guilty in May 2024 from an original group of 47 accused.

Lau’s “overall conduct” showed that he was party to the conspiracy and he should be tried again because the lower court made the wrong factual finding, the prosecution argued.

Lau, representing himself, replied that the trial court’s findings should not be “casually interfered” with.

“… I have never advocated for the resignation of the chief executive, I have never advocated the indiscriminate vetoing of the financial budget,” Lau told the court, referring to core tenets of the alleged conspiracy.

Beijing has remolded Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after imposing a sweeping national security law in 2020 following months of huge, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy demonstrations.

Authorities arrested figures from a broad cross-section of the city’s opposition in morning raids in 2021, a group later dubbed the “Hong Kong 47.”

The group, aged between 27 and 69, included democratically elected lawmakers and district councilors, as well as unionists, academics and others with political stances ranging from modest reformists to radical localists.

They were accused of organizing or taking part in an unofficial primary election, which aimed to improve the chances of pro-democracy parties of winning a majority in the legislature.

The activists had hoped to force the government to accede to demands such as universal suffrage by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget.

Three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases said the plan would have caused a “constitutional crisis.”


Search for Texas flood victims to resume after pause due to heavy rains

Search for Texas flood victims to resume after pause due to heavy rains
Updated 14 July 2025
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Search for Texas flood victims to resume after pause due to heavy rains

Search for Texas flood victims to resume after pause due to heavy rains

KERRVILLE, Texas: Crews on Monday were expected to resume looking for victims of catastrophic flooding in Texas that killed at least 132 people after more heavy rains temporarily paused their search and rescue operations.

Those efforts along the Guadalupe River were halted on Sunday after a new round of severe weather led to high water rescues elsewhere and prompted fears that waterways could surge again above their banks.

It was the first time search efforts for victims of the July Fourth floods were stopped due to severe weather. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighboring areas.

In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water in the early morning hours of July 4, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed phone alerts to those in the area.

During the pause in searches, Ingram Fire Department officials ordered crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, warning the potential for a flash flood was high.

Late Sunday afternoon, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office announced that search teams in the western part of that county could resume their efforts. The Ingram Fire Department would resume its search and rescue efforts Monday morning, said agency spokesman Brian Lochte.

Latest flooding damages dozens of homes

Gov. Greg Abbott said on X the state conducted rescues of dozens of people in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties, and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others.

The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit.

“Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,” she said. “Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.”

With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate, with people moved to the San Saba Civic Center, Johnson said.

A wide-ranging weather system brings heavy rains

The weather system brought slow-moving storms and multiple rounds of heavy rain across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks.

The rains caused waterways to swell further north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River.

“He drove into it and didn’t realize how deep it was,” said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department.

In the west Texas city of Sonora, authorities called for evacuations of some neighborhoods due to rising flood waters. Sonora is located about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of Kerrville.

Kerrville residents get support from police, alerts

Under heavy rain, Matthew Stone on Sunday cleared branches and a log from a storm sewer in front of his home on Guadalupe Street in Kerrville as several inches of water pooled up on the road.

Multiple houses on the street overlooking the Guadalupe River were severely impacted by the July 4 floods. Stone said he felt safe for now.

“The cops have been coming back and forth, we’re getting lots of alerts, we’re getting a lot of support,” he said.

Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims.

The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp.

Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors.

The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.


Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway
Updated 14 July 2025
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Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway
  • Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia
  • This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations will take part over three weeks

MELBOURNE: The largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships.

Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia. This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia’s defense department said on Sunday.

Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.

The exercise will also take part in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.

Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.

“The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It’d be very unusual for them not to observe it,” Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We’ll adjust accordingly. We’ll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” Conroy added.

Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.

The exercise officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney attended by Deputy Commanding General of US Army Pacific Lt. Gen. J.B. Vowell and Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations Vice-Adm. Justin Jones.

The exercise, showcasing Australia’s defense alliance with the United States, started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China.

Albanese is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Australian leader has been criticized at home for failing to secure a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump.


Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say

Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say
Updated 14 July 2025
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Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say

Suspect kills 2 women in Kentucky church after shooting state trooper, police say
  • The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the traffic stop near Lexington’s airport and fled to Richmond Road Baptist Church, where he opened fire

Two women died Sunday at a church in Lexington, Kentucky, in a shooting rampage that began when a state trooper was wounded after making a traffic stop, police said. The suspect in both shootings was also killed.

The suspect carjacked a vehicle after the traffic stop near Lexington’s airport and fled to Richmond Road Baptist Church, where he opened fire, city Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said. Killed in the shootings at the church were a 72-year-old woman and a 32-year-old woman, the local coroner said.

Two other people were wounded at the church and taken to a local hospital, the police chief said. One victim sustained critical injuries and the other was in stable condition, Weathers said.

The suspect was shot by police and died at the scene, he said. The suspect was not immediately identified pending notification of family, he said.

“Preliminary information indicates that the suspect may have had a connection to the individuals at the church,” the police chief said at a news conference.

The trooper stopped the vehicle after receiving a “license plate reader alert” and was shot about 11:30 a.m., Weathers said. The trooper was in stable condition, he said.

Police tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Baptist church, the police chief said. The church is about 16 miles 26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot.

The shootings remain under investigation, Weathers said.

Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the church is home to a small, tight-knit congregation.

“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence, and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post.

State Attorney General Russell Coleman said detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies. “Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House,” Coleman said in a statement. “The attack on law enforcement and people of faith in Lexington shocked the entire Commonwealth.”