(CNN) Donald Trump named two top advisers to his administration Sunday, tapping Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus to be his new chief of staff and Steve Bannon, the Trump campaign CEO and executive chairman of Breitbart News, as chief strategist and senior counselor.

"Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again," Trump said in the release.

It's an unusual arrangement that could create two power centers in the new White House. The campaign statement, which listed Bannon's role first, referred to the two men as "equal partners."

"Bannon and Priebus will continue the effective leadership team they formed during the campaign, working as equal partners to transform the federal government, making it much more efficient, effective and productive," it said.

The dynamic will continue the structure of the two men's roles in the campaign, with Priebus and Bannon working as partners, but with very different Trump constituencies to manage. Both Priebus and Bannon were highly involved with working out the arrangement, a source familiar with the decision said.

Priebus should be a reassuring presence to establishment Republicans still uncertain about what a Trump White House will look like. The pick signals that Trump may look to build bridges in Washington and keep continuity with longtime Republican agendas, as opposed to make waves from the beginning.

Priebus is among the longest serving chairmen of the Republican Party, and has generally been popular amid different factions within the party. He is largely credited with building the ground game that elected Trump and with helping to unite his party after a divisive primary that resulted in many Republicans shunning Trump's nomination.

Trump's choice for chief of staff was believed to come down to Priebus and Bannon. In a repeat of the tumultuous process that led Trump to tap Indiana Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running-mate, GOP officials pressed the President-elect to go with Priebus for the chief of staff job.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Trump on Thursday to pick Priebus, a source told CNN on Friday. Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, has also said privately he is supportive of that decision.

After the announcement, a spokesman for Ryan said the speaker was pleased by the decision.

"The speaker is very happy for his friend and ready to get to work," said Doug Andres, his spokesman.

Priebus has served as a negotiator between the party and Trump. When Ryan did not initially endorse Trump, Priebus organized meetings and helped diffuse tension between the two when Ryan criticized Trump and Trump hit back.

Sources say Priebus and Trump have grown very close over the course of the campaign. Priebus had a leadership role in Trump's debate prep and traveled with him in the latter days of the campaign. Many of the RNC's top operatives were installed in Trump Tower to work closely with the campaign.

During the campaign, Trump often said he would look to politicians to help him govern, including his selection of Pence -- another Ryan friend and ally -- as vice president. But he also ran a campaign as an outsider, saying he would "drain the swamp" of Washington.

Priebus earned Trump's trust in the final months of the campaign, as he steered the RNC's resources behind Trump's candidacy despite Republican officials urging Priebus to abandon Trump and instead help down-ballot candidates.

As Trump's candidacy was engulfed in the controversy stemming from a 2005 tape in which he boasted about being able to grope and kiss women without their consent, and as sexual assault allegations surfaced the next week, Priebus stood fast behind Trump and worked to salvage his campaign.

Trump's debate over the selection demonstrated how he was once again being pulled between a more pragmatic selection with a pick who will enable his outsider persona and bellicose instincts.

Bannon represents bare-knuckle style politics seen as appealing to Trump's most inflammatory instincts, and his initial hiring prompted a raft of criticism from Democrats accusing Trump of embracing the "alt right."

But Trump ran an outsider campaign and Bannon's hiring signals an intention to keep the insurgent sentiment that propelled his campaign close.

Bannon is a former Navy officer and Goldman Sachs investment banker and has been an executive in the right-wing media for years. He joined Trump's campaign in August alongside new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, after Paul Manafort was fired as campaign manager.

While pundits worried that Bannon's hiring would hasten Trump going way off-message, he had some of his most disciplined weeks of his campaign under Bannon and Conway's leadership, though it was almost derailed by a hot mic video that caught Trump bragging of sexually violent and aggressive behavior toward women.

A potential White House role for Conway is a possibility. A Trump source says the President-elect has made clear to Conway that he wants her to work in the new administration, but she has not decided whether to do so for several reasons. That includes being mother to four young children.

CNN is told Conway is more likely to stay outside the government and follow the template of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign strategist David Plouffe, who opted not to go in the White House.

Conway may follow that model and help the Trump administration by organizing conservative groups and pushing Trump policies and legislation from the outside.

Given Conway's exposure through the Trump campaign, she is also poised to make a lot of money working outside of government.

This story has been updated. </s> Donald Trump has fired Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and replaced him with Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, the president announced on Twitter on Friday.

The president tweeted: “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a great American … and a great leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my administration.”

The dismissal of Priebus came as little surprise after he was the subject of a furious, foul-mouthed attack by new communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who claimed he would be asked to resign imminently. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has selected John Kelly as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….” Trump tweeted.

This story is breaking and will be updated. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has selected Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus.

“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American… and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration,” Trump tweeted.

The move was announced just after Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington Friday.

“Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job,” Trump told reporters. “General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great great American. Reince is a good man.”

The move followed months of on-again, off-again speculation that Priebus would soon be ousted from an administration where he has consistently drawn heavy criticism for failing to stem the flow of leaks and struggled to impose a sense of order in a chaotic White House beset by controversies.

Priebus, who was brought on by the outsider President in large part because of his Washington relationships, also wound up carrying a hefty share of the blame for the White House’s legislative stumbles.

The former Republican National Committee chairman faced a difficult task from the outset as he attempted to wrangle a hodgepodge of rival staff factions divided by ideology and allegiance, his influence supplanted by several other top advisers — including the President’s own kin — who reported directly to Trump and not to the chief of staff.

Priebus’ appointment was announced alongside Steve Bannon’s, the former Breitbart editor in chief who was appointed chief strategist. The President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was named senior adviser and soon thereafter his wife — the President’s eldest daughter — Ivanka Trump was as well.

But it was the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci to communications director last Friday that set off Priebus’ final unraveling. Within days of his appointment, Scaramucci, who was added to the roster of top aides who circumvent the chief of staff and report directly to the President, took to the airwaves and suggested Priebus was responsible for leaks coming out of the White House. He leveled those charges on CNN moments after speaking with Trump.

Priebus had worked against Scaramucci joining the administration when the New York hedge fund manager was first considered for an administration post and while the two attempted to put on a show of unity in Scaramucci’s first days at the White House, it quickly became clear the two men would continue to be at odds with each other.

Priebus, a Wisconsin native, joined the administration as chief of staff after a nearly six-year tenure as chairman of the RNC, the final months of which he spent in a dual role as a top adviser to Trump’s campaign.

Priebus was tapped for the post at the urging of top congressional Republicans — including House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fellow Wisconsinite — who advised Trump that he needed a Washington insider to help him shepherd his legislative agenda. That left Priebus with the blame for many of the administration’s legislative stumbles, including during the arduous attempts at passing a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare — which Priebus had advised Trump to make his first legislative priority, promising him swift victory.

The pick was unexpected for many in the Trump campaign who saw Priebus as the embodiment of the Washington Republican establishment Trump had defeated in the primaries, and Trump and Priebus did not always see eye-to eye.

Still, Priebus helped Trump bridge the divide with many establishment Republicans during the general election and into Trump’s tenure as president, serving as a key bridge between the outsider President and the insider politics he found himself at the center of.

Priebus was just the latest former RNC official to leave the administration, following the departure of White House press secretary Sean Spicer — who resigned in protest over Scaramucci’s hire — and the ouster of deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh, a key Priebus ally who exited the administration after just two months on the job. </s> President Donald Trump has removed Wisconsin native Reince Priebus as his White House Chief of Staff, replacing him with retired U.S. Marine Corps General John Kelly, who had been serving as the Secretary of Homeland Security.

President Donald Trump has removed Wisconsin native Reince Priebus as his White House Chief of Staff, replacing him with retired U.S. Marine Corps General John Kelly, who had been serving as the Secretary of Homeland Security.

MADISON (WKOW) --- The political world in Wisconsin and the rest of the country is coming to grips with a shocking move out of Washington Friday -- the removal of Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff.

The news came via twitter, when President Donald Trump announced that he named Homeland Security Secretary General John Kelly as his new chief of staff.

"I think the president wanted to go a different direction. I support him in that. Like I said a couple weeks ago, I said the president has a right to change directions. A president has a right to hit a reset button. I think it is a good time to hit the reset button. I think he was right to hit the reset button, and I think it was something that I think the White House needs. I think it's healthy. And I support him in it," Priebus said.

The move comes after a tumultuous couple of days, that saw incoming communications director Anthony Scaramucci publicly blast Priebus over "leaked" information.

The long-time Kenosha resident said he resigned Thursday and that the president included him in choosing a successor.

"I'm doing great. I just had a good conversation with General Kelly and the president, and I think you may know I've been, obviously, talking to the president for a few days about this. And formally, I ultimately resigned yesterday. And, you know, the president was great. He wanted to include me in figuring out how and who would be a great successor and a chief of staff," Priebus said.

Trump had this to say about his former chief-of-staff during a stop in New York Friday.

"Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He's a great, great American. Reince Priebus is a good man. Thank you very much."

House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted his thanks to Priebus, as well as his support for General Kelly.

“Reince Priebus has left it all out on the field, for our party and our country. Here is a guy from Kenosha, Wisconsin who revitalized the Republican National Committee and became White House chief of staff. He has served the president and the American people capably and passionately. He has achieved so much, and he has done it all with class. I could not be more proud to call Reince a dear friend,” Ryan said in a statement.

"I congratulate Secretary Kelly on his appointment, and look forward to working with him to advance our agenda."

"Reince Priebus is a good friend. I thank him for his service and wish him the best of luck going forward. Secretary Kelly is an outstanding leader who has served his country honorably and I know he will do an excellent job at the White House."

Priebus said he thinks Kelly is a good choice for the job.

During an interview, Priebus said he was not the White House leaker and refused to address earlier remarks made by Scaramucci.

Priebus was named chief of staff in November shortly after Trump won the election. He said he'll be working on a transition for a couple of weeks with General Kelly, starting on Monday. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday he was appointing Homeland Security head John Kelly to be White House chief of staff, ending the tumultuous six-month tenure of Reince Priebus.

After months of speculation about Priebus’ fate, Trump tweeted the decision just as he landed in Washington after an event in New York in which he lavishly praised Kelly’s performance at Homeland Security.

Priebus, the former Republican National Committee head, was the frequent target of rumours about his job security, the victim of a long whisper campaign by Trump allies and the subject of a remarkable public rebuke this week by the new White House communications director.

Trump’s announcement on Twitter: “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American ... and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”

He also saluted Priebus, the chief of staff he had just pushed out.

“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!”

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, Trump said: “Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job.”

Priebus never could bring a semblance of order to the team of in-fighting rivals that populate Trump’s West Wing, and questions about his future have long swirled around the office. Those questions sharply escalated this week with the arrival of Anthony Scaramucci, the hard-charging communications director who was hired over Priebus’ objections.

Priebus’ already tense relationship with Scaramucci took a darker turn over the past two days when the communications chief suggested in a late-night tweet that Priebus was one of the “leakers” that Trump has railed against. The New Yorker published an interview Thursday in which Scaramucci called Priebus, amid an avalanche of vulgarity, a “paranoid schizophrenic”

Both Scaramucci and Priebus travelled to New York’s Long Island with Trump on Friday for an event where the president highlighted efforts to crack down on the gang MS-13. Priebus took the return flight to Washington, his fate sealed in the tweets that were sent by the president just as he stepped off the plane. Priebus did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions.

From day one, Priebus’ power has been limited compared with past officials with his title. In a highly unusual arrangement, Trump said at the outset that Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon would serve as “equal partners” in implementing his agenda.

Priebus, who hails from Wisconsin and has deep ties House Speaker Paul Ryan, had grown increasingly isolated in the White House, as past Republican National Committee colleagues and other allies have left or been pushed out of the West Wing. Those who have departed include former deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh, outgoing press secretary Sean Spicer and press aide Michael Short.

Scaramucci was the latest top aide to be granted a direct line to Trump, and it became increasingly unclear who actually reported to Priebus. </s> Another one bites the dust! Donald Trump is making even more changes to his administration.

The Commander in Chief, 71, has ousted Chief of Staff Reince Priebus from his team on Friday, July 28, replacing the former GOP Chairman with the sitting Homeland Security Secretary, John Kelly.

Trump took to Twitter to announce his decision. “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff,” he wrote. “He is a Great American and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”

The president concluded his remarks by wishing Priebus well: “I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I proud of him!” He did not provide a reason for firing Priebus.

Reince Priebus told CNN that he resigned on Thursday, July 27, after a productive conversation with Trump. "This is about the president. This is about moving his agenda forward. I think he's made a smart decision with General Kelly, and I think he's going to do a great job and I'm looking forward to the future."

Priebus also added that there is no "ill will" over his resignation. "I'm always going to be a Trump fan. I'm on team Trump, and I look forward to helping him achieve his goals and his agenda for the American people," he said.

The news comes one week after Anthony Scaramucci was brought on as Communications Director. According to reports, Priebus opposed the appointment, as did Sean Spicer, who then resigned as press secretary in what many deemed to be an act of protest. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has since been appointed as Spicer's successor.

Scaramucci made headlines earlier this week for questioning whether Priebus was behind several recent White House leaks. “Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to leave very shortly,” the latest addition to Trump’s administration said in an explosive phone conversation with a New Yorker reporter.

In May, Trump also fired James Comey as FBI director.

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For the latest celebrity entertainment, news and lifestyle videos, subscribe to Us Weekly's YouTube Page! </s> President Donald Trump has named retired Gen. John Kelly as the new White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus in the role.

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"I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration," Trump said in a series of tweets Friday afternoon.

I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

In a statement later on Friday, Priebus said it "has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this President and our country."

"I want to thank the President for giving me this very special opportunity," the statement continued. "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."

Senior White House officials with direct knowledge of the changes happening in the West Wing said the president told Priebus two weeks ago he wanted to make a change.

Priebus spoke to CNN about two hours after the announcement was made, and he repeatedly said that he resigned but noted that the president wanted to go in a different direction.

“It was something I think the White House needs. I think it’s healthy, and I support him in it,” Priebus said of the shift.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Friday night, Priebus said he spoke with Trump about who would be his successor.

“We had a good talk yesterday. I resigned, he accepted it,” he said. “And we started working together and talking quite a few times about who would be a great pick to come in here and be the chief of staff, and I can't think of anyone better than a four-star general, John Kelly.”

Priebus added that he feels “hitting a reset button” is “a good thing.” He declined to comment on any controversy surrounding incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.

“It's just getting in the mud, and I think the palace intrigue stuff is annoying, and I think it's a distraction and it takes away from the president's agenda,” he said.

Kelly has already been working in the Trump administration, serving as the secretary of homeland security.

He released a statement thanking "the tremendous men and women of DHS."

"When I left the Marines, I never thought I would find as committed, as professional, as patriotic a group of individuals. I was wrong. You accomplish great things everyday defending our nation and I know your exceptional work will continue," Kelly said.

Susan Walsh/AP

Kelly added that he is "honored to be asked to serve" as the president's chief of staff.

Kelly will start as chief of staff on Monday morning and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that a Cabinet meeting will follow his swearing-in.

Trump praised Kelly just this afternoon at an event with law enforcement officials on Long Island in New York.

Trump said Kelly "has done an incredible job of secretary of homeland security. Incredible. One of our real stars. Truly one of our stars. John Kelly is one of our great stars."

Trump thanked him for "his service" in a tweet.

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

After walking off Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump briefly spoke to reporters.

"Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star. Done an incredible job thus far. Respected by everybody. A great, great American. Respected by everybody. Reince Priebus [is] a good man," Trump said.

Trump has felt his team needed a chief of staff who could help push his agenda forward and get the West Wing in shape. After that conversation, the president began weighing his options and ultimately decided on his first choice – Kelly – the officials told ABC News.

The president’s plan was to make this change around the congressional recess with the goal of having a vacation period to get things in shape heading into the fall, the officials said, noting that the fact that new communications director Anthony Scaramucci has joined the team is not connected to Priebus leaving.

As one source put it, “This was a long time coming, period.”

In spite of the officials' comments, the personnel shift comes amid growing acrimony inside the White House, which was made public most clearly when Scaramucci called a reporter for The New Yorker and gave a series of expletive-ridden criticisms of Priebus, among others.

"Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to resign very shortly," Scaramucci told reporter Ryan Lizza, according to The New Yorker article.

"Reince is a f------ paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac," Scaramucci said, the article states.

The day before The New Yorker article was published, Scaramucci posted a tweet, which he later deleted, where he tagged Priebus and wrote that he would be contacting the FBI and Department of Justice to investigate leaking.

Priebus was one of the members of Trump's senior staff who had the most experience working in Washington politics, having previously served as the Republican National Committee chairman before joining the Trump team during the transition.

He had ties to key members of the Republican Party, like House Speaker and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan, but his support base within the White House is believed to have eroded in recent weeks. Katie Walsh, who served as Priebus' deputy chief of staff at the White House, left in March, and on July 21, press secretary Sean Spicer resigned. Both Walsh and Spicer worked with Priebus at the RNC. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is making an overture to warring Republican circles by appointing GOP chief Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff and Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor.

The two men had made up the president-elect’s chief of staff shortlist, and while Priebus received that job, Bannon’s post is expected to wield significant clout. Trump gave top billing to the former media executive, who led a website that appealed to the so-called “alt-right” — a movement often associated with efforts on the far right to preserve “white identity,” oppose multiculturalism and defend “Western values.”

Priebus on Monday defended the media mogul, saying the two made an effective pair as they steered Trump past Democrat Hillary Clinton and toward the presidency. He sought to distance Bannon from the incendiary headlines on his website, saying they were written by unspecified others.

“Together, we’ve been able to manage a lot of the decision making in regard to the campaign,” Priebus told NBC’s “Today.” ‘‘It’s worked very, very well.”

Trump’s hires were, at first glance, contradictory, though they fit a pattern of the celebrity businessman creating a veritable Rorschach test that allowed his supporters to see what they wanted. Priebus, who lashed the RNC to Trump this summer despite some intraparty objections, is a GOP operative with deep expertise of the Washington establishment that Trump has vowed to shake up. He has close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fellow Wisconsinite.

Bannon, meanwhile, helped transform the Breitbart News site into the leading mouthpiece of the party’s anti-establishment wing, which helped fuel the businessman’s political rise. Ryan has been one of his most frequent targets.

“Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory,” Trump said Sunday in a statement announcing his picks. “Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again.”

Neither Priebus nor Bannon brings policy experience to the White House. Chiefs of staff in particular play a significant role in policymaking, serving as a liaison to Cabinet agencies and deciding what information makes it to the president’s desk. They’re often one of the last people in the room with the president as major decisions are made.

In announcing the appointments, Trump said Priebus and Bannon would work as “equal partners” — effectively creating two power centers in the West Wing. The arrangement is risky and could leave ambiguity over who makes final decisions.

Trump has long encouraged rivalries, both in business and in his presidential campaign. He cycled through three campaign managers during his White House run, creating a web of competing alliances among staffers.

Priebus is a traditional choice, one meant as an olive branch to the Republicans who control both houses of Congress as Trump looks to pass his legislative agenda.

The Bannon pick, however, is controversial.

Under Bannon’s tenure, Brietbart pushed a nationalist agenda and became one of the leading outlets of the so-called alt-right — a movement often associated with white supremacist ideas that oppose multiculturalism and defend “Western values.”

John Weaver, a Republican strategist who worked for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign, tweeted, “The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant, America.”

Bannon, who became campaign CEO in August, pushed Trump to adopt more populist rhetoric and paint rival Hillary Clinton as part of a global conspiracy made up of the political, financial and media elite, bankers bent on oppressing the country’s working people — a message that carried Trump to the White House but to some, carried anti-Semitic undertones.

An ex-wife of Bannon said he expressed fear of Jews when the two battled over sending their daughters to private school nearly a decade ago, according to court papers reviewed this summer by The Associated Press. In a sworn court declaration following their divorce, Mary Louise Piccard said her ex-husband had objected to sending their twin daughters to an elite Los Angeles academy because he “didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews.”

A spokeswoman for Bannon denied he made those statements.

The appointments came after a day in which Trump’s tough-talking plan to rein in illegal immigration showed signs Sunday of cracking, with the president-elect seemingly backing off his vow to build a solid wall along the southern U.S. border and Ryan rejecting any “deportation force” targeting people in the country illegally.

Though Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview which aired Sunday night that his border wall might look more like a fence in spots, one thing didn’t change from his statements on this matter during the primary season: the combative billionaire took to Twitter to settle some scores.

During a four-hour spree, Trump gloated about establishment Republicans congratulating him and savaged The New York Times for being “dishonest” and “highly inaccurate.”

“The @nytimes states today that DJT believes ‘more countries should acquire nuclear weapons.‘ How dishonest are they. I never said this!” Trump tweeted late Sunday morning.

But in a March interview with the Times, Trump was asked whether he would object to Japan acquiring its own nuclear arsenal, which it does not now have. He replied, “Would I rather have North Korea have them with Japan sitting there having them also? You may very well be better off if that’s the case.”

Trump also told “60 Minutes” he would eschew the $400,000 annual salary for the president, taking only $1 a year.

Lemire reported from New York. AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Reach Lemire and Kellman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and http://twitter.com/@LaurieKellman </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has named close adviser Kellyanne Conway as his White House counselor, elevating the woman who led his campaign to victory to a senior West Wing position.

Trump — who also announced his senior White House communications staff, including naming former Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer as press secretary — has a strong rapport with Conway and she was seen as a positive influence on his often chaotic campaign. Conway, who took over as campaign manager in the summer, has been one of Trump’s most visible advisers, making frequent television appearances on his behalf.

“She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message,” Trump said in a statement Thursday announcing the position.

Trump is creating another power center in the West Wing by tapping Conway for the senior White House role.

He’s already named outgoing Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and conservative media executive Steve Bannon as a senior adviser. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will also be an influential adviser, though his exact role is still to be determined.

Internal rivalries have long been a hallmark of Trump’s businesses and campaign as well as his transition team. Conway and Priebus have been at odds over some major decisions, including who should serve as Trump’s secretary of state. He ultimately chose Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

Conway irritated some Trump aides with her outspoken opposition to the prospect of the president-elect picking Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, to head the State Department. She panned the idea in public, though she said she had also made her feelings known to Trump privately.

Conway, a longtime Republican pollster, considered not joining the White House staff and turned down offers to serve in a communications role. She also expressed a desire to help Trump set up an outside political organization to promote his agenda.

Conway said Thursday that she was “humbled and honored to play a role in helping transform the movement he has led into a real agenda of action and results.”

Meanwhile, Spicer’s elevation was championed by Priebus, his longtime ally at the RNC. Additionally, the transition team announced that Jason Miller will be the director of communications. Hope Hicks, the longtime campaign spokeswoman, was appointed Director of Strategic Communications while Dan Scavino will be Director of Social Media.

Hicks and Scavino were original members of Trump’s skeletal staff, joining the Republican businessman’s campaign in its early days. Miller joined after Trump became the presumptive nominee.
President-elect Donald Trump names Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his White House Chief of Staff.