The feud that exposed the chaos in the White House – and pushed Reince Priebus towards the door

Infighting and power struggles have plagued Mr Priebus' tenure

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (Susan Walsh/AP)

Behind Donald Trump’s surprise replacement of his chief of staff lay months of White House infighting and power struggles.

In the six months since Inauguration Day, Reince Priebus, the President's embattled chief of staff, had never managed to make it into Mr Trump’s good graces.

The President held a grudge against the former Republican National Committee chairman for encouraging him to drop out of the presidential race, according the The New York Times. He also kept a mental catalogue of those who disavowed him after the “Access Hollywood” tape leaked, and Mr Priebus was top of that list.

Mr Trump had reportedly been discussing finding someone “stronger” for Mr Priebus' position in recent days, claiming he needed “a general” to lead the White House team. Mr Priebus's replacement, John Kelly, is a four-star Marine Corps general who served three tours in Iraq.

In a speech on Friday, hours before he announced Mr Priebus’s ouster, the President heaped praise on his then-Secretary of Homeland Security.

“I want to congratulate John Kelly, who has done an incredible job of Secretary of Homeland Security. Incredible,” he said in an address to police officers. “John Kelly is one of our great stars”.

An official told the Daily Beast Mr Trump had taken a liking to Mr Kelly in cabinet meetings, where he relied on him to bring discipline to the conversation.

Meanwhile, the President’s relationship with Mr Priebus was growing increasingly sour. Mr Trump had recently hired former Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci as his director of communications – against the advice of Mr Priebus and then-press secretary Sean Spicer.

Mr Spicer ultimately resigned over the appointment, but Mr Priebus held on. In the days following, Mr Scaramucci waged a war of words on the chief of staff, who he blamed for “c**k-blocking” him out of a previous White House position.

In his new position, Mr Scaramucci accused Mr Priebus of leaking his financial disclosure form, and suggested he would have the FBI investigate.

He then pointedly compared their relationship to that of Biblical brothers Cain and Abel. In the book of Genesis, Cain murders Abel after God favours his brother's sacrifice.

On Wednesday night, Mr Scaramucci called the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza and unloaded on the chief of staff.

“Reince is a f*****g paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” he said, insisting that Mr Priebus would resign “very soon”.

Even Kellyanne Conway, a top White House adviser, had privately told people that Mr Priebus was “gone,” according to BuzzFeed News.

"If I was Reince, I would be like, 'F*** you guys, I'm out’,” one administration source told the outlet on Thursday.

Mr Priebus offered his resignation to Mr Trump that day, according to CNN.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff,” Mr Trump tweeted on Friday evening, by way of announcement.

He added: “I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!”

Mr Priebus’s ousting marked a victory for the Trump loyalist camp in the White House, which boasts campaign stalwarts like Stephen Bannon and Ms Conway.

Mr Bannon – who represents the grassroots, nationalist beginnings of Mr Trump’s campaign – had frequently clashed with Mr Priebus, who emblemises the traditional conservative camp who eventually camp to accept him. The two men reportedly warred over everything from tax reform to the travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.

On Friday, however, it appeared the Bannon camp had temporarily won.

Mr Priebus said in a statement: “It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to serve this President and our country.

“I want to thank the President for giving me this very special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the President's agenda and policies.

“I can't think of a better person than General John Kelly to succeed me and I wish him God's blessings and great success.”