In the midst of managing the country’s coronavirus outbreak and preparing for the beginning of his presidential campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a major personnel change at the White House.
Representative Mark Meadows from North Carolina is the new White House chief of staff, replacing Mark Mulvaney who has been the acting chief for more than a year.
The president, who announced the change on Twitter Friday, said Mulvaney will become the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland.
Meadows, a four-term lawmaker, has been a loyal defender of the president and was a staunch supporter of Trump during the impeachment process.
“I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one,” the president tweeted.
Meadows announced earlier this year that he would be retiring from Congress at the end of his term. He is Trump’s fourth chief of staff in a little more than three years.
Trump did not give his reasoning for making the personnel change at this time.
“I want to thank Acting Chief Mick Mulvaney for having served the Administration so well,” Trump tweeted.
Mulvaney, the outgoing chief, a former lawmaker from South Carolina, is probably best remembered as saying at a news conference that foreign policy quid pro quos are common.
That statement, however, was in direct contrast with the president, who has maintained that he never engaged in any quid pro quo arrangement with Ukraine.
Trump was accused of holding back congressionally approved money from Ukraine in an effort to have the country launch an investigation into Joe Biden, Trump’s rival.
