Donald Trump circumvents Chief of Staff John Kelly to speak to White House aides, say reports

Staffers are said to have had to refuse the President's orders to not rub Mr Kelly the wrong way

US President Donald Trump speaks as White House chief of staff John Kelly at a briefing with senior military leaders in 5 October 2017 (Getty)

US President Donald Trump has reportedly been circumventing his own Chief of Staff John Kelly to talk to White House aides.

Mr Trump gives tasks to advisors and other staff at his residence in the evenings with instructions not to let Mr Kelly know about the conversation, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Previously, aides were instructed not to go to the President directly in order for Mr Kelly to maintain some order and control over what has been a chaotic White House.

There was at least one time when staffers had to decline the President's request in order not to "run afoul" of Mr Kelly.

The retired four-star Marine Corps general and former Trump administration Secretary of Homeland Security, took over from Reince Priebus in late July 2017 after his successor resigned.

Part of his mission was to reign in White House operations amid a President and many staff members who had little to no government experience.

Mr Kelly began by acting as a gatekeeper, limiting access to the Oval Office.

One source told the newspaper that if they wanted to urgently get a hold of the President about a political matter, they simply went to First Lady Melania Trump instead of Mr Kelly.

“If I don’t want to wait 24 hours for a call from the president, getting to Melania is much easier,” the source said.

The First Lady’s office downplayed the matter by calling it “more fake news" in an attempt to minimise any perceived rift between the Chief of Staff and the Oval Office.

This is not the first report of tension between the pair. In October, Mr Kelly addressed the press and said to some laughter: “I’m not quitting today.”

“I was not brought in to control him...you should not measure my effectiveness as a chief of staff by what you think I should be doing,” he said during the news conference.