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Trump has been mulling removing Nielsen, a Kelly protege who
became the secretary at Homeland Security when he left the job
to become Trump's chief of staff, for a number of weeks, the
source said.
The source cautioned Trump could still change his mind on the
matter, but said he has grown weary of her in his push to harden
the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump has not decided on a candidate to replace Nielsen, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
"The Secretary is honored to lead the men and women of DHS and
is committed to implementing the President's security-focused
agenda to protect Americans from all threats and will continue
to do so," said Tyler Houlton, a Department of Homeland Security
spokesman, in response to an ABC News report about the possible
staff changes.
Trump is also considering replacing Kelly, an ardent defender of
Nielsen, with Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Nick
Ayers, the source said.
Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, has sought to bring more
stability to the White House operation under the unpredictable
Trump.
During his time as chief of staff, he and the president have had
a rocky relationship, according to various news reports and Bob
Woodward's best-selling book "Fear: Trump in the White House."
If they leave, Kelly and Nielsen would join a long list of
people who have been fired by Trump or resigned since he took
office in January, 2017. That list includes former Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
who was removed by the president last week.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Tim Ahmann and Makini Brice;
Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Alistair Bell)
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