Trump’s housing secretary and the only member of the Cabinet who is black has embarrassed Trump over a $31,000 dining set that had been ordered for his office.

The president also was said to be deeply unhappy with Kelly’s remark on Fox News in which Kelly suggested that Trump had “evolved” on his vow to build a border wall with Mexico. Trump was said to have considered firing Kelly over his handling of ousted White House aide Rob Porte, who was accused of domestic abuse. But scarcely eight months after Trump moved Kelly from the helm of the Homeland Security Department to the White House, the president and the general have clashed. Trump’s White House chief of staff has been credited as a stabilizing force amid the tornado of rivalries in the West Wing.