Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and a Florida friend of President Trump, said on ABC's "This Week" that the president told him "he's expecting to make one or two major changes to his government very soon, and that's going to be it."
The big picture: Ruddy said Trump said the White House is running "like a smooth machine — his words."
- Ruddy, an ABC News contributor, told Martha Raddatz that Trump told him he’s "perplexed" by all of the reports of chaos in the White House.
- Other sources — not Trump — told Ruddy that Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin "is likely to depart soon."
- Trump is happy with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, according to Ruddy: "He will be staying."
- Ben Carson's fracas about spending on office furnishings hasn't hurt his standing with Trump, per Ruddy, who said that "the president is very happy with the job he's doing."
- Ruddy dismissed concerns about Stormy Daniels for President Trump, saying, “This is politically motivated to hurt or embarrass [President Trump] in some way…I think the American people are really dismissing this as political witch hunt."