Trump's chief of staff 'to read everything' before President is allowed to see it

Chiefs of staff in previous administrations have done the same thing

White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure (Getty Images)

John Kelly, Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, is said to be making sure he has the last word on what materials land on the President’s desk – an apparent effort to slow down the policymaking process and bring more discipline to the chaotic White House.

Mr Kelly, who started his new role at the end of July, has reportedly initiated a new process in which he and just one other aide – White House staff secretary Rob Porter – will review all documents before Mr Trump is allowed to see them.

Under the system, also used by previous administrations, the President will not view any external policy documents, internal policy memos, agency reports and even news articles that have not been vetted, Politico said.

This process is to ensure that Mr Trump is presented with competing viewpoints in a complete and straightforward manner before he makes a policy decision – or maybe even sends a tweet.

Executive orders, once rushed out over the course of a few days, are also now expected to go through several stages of development. They will be rigorously vetted by multiple aides and approved by Mr Kelly before being sent to the President, the New York Times reported.

A former Trump staffer told Bloomberg News that the Oval Office was like the “Hunger Games” prior to Mr Kelly, a former Marine, coming to the White House, with aides battling to sell access to the president.

“It’s known those days are over,” the former staffer said. “Everyone, including staff, knows it’s a new day of structure and knows not to mess with Kelly.”

While Mr Kelly may be bringing more organisation to the White House, he appears to be struggling to instill a sense of order around Mr Trump.

Just last week, Mr Kelly was seen grimacing at an impromptu news conference in which the President insisted that white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other hate groups did not deserve 100 per cent of the blame for violence in Charlottesville.

White nationalist demonstrators earlier this month descended on the Virginia city to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. The rally, met by counter-protests, quickly became violent – prompting the governor to declare a ‘state of emergency’.

The uproar Mr Trump caused by appearing to equate white supremacists with groups that oppose them is said to have left Mr Kelly frustrated and dismayed.