John F. Kelly

John Francis Kelly (born May 11, 1950) is an American former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps general who was the White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 until 2019. He had previously been the secretary of homeland security in the Trump administration and was commander of United States Southern Command. Kelly is a board member at Caliburn International, a professional services provider. Following his firing from the first Trump administration in December 2018, Kelly became one of Trump's most notable critics among former cabinet members and administration officials, revealing in The Atlantic that Trump would often praise authoritarian regimes in private meetings. In October 2024, Kelly described Trump as "fascist" prior to the 2024 presidential election.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Kelly enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and was commissioned as an officer near the end of college. He rose through the ranks, eventually serving in his last military post from 2012 to 2016 as a four-star general leading United States Southern Command, the unified combatant command responsible for American military operations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Before joining the Trump administration in January 2017, Kelly had been on the board of advisors of DC Capital Partners, an investment firm that owns Caliburn International. Kelly was selected as the Trump administration's first Secretary of Homeland Security. Kelly earned a reputation for being an aggressive enforcer of immigration law. After six months, he was selected to replace Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff in an attempt to bring more stability to the White House. He was the first career military officer to serve in the position since Alexander Haig during the Nixon and Ford administrations.