White House chief of staff John Kelly “has the confidence” of President Donald Trump and is “getting the job done,” White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

The Washington Post reported Saturday in an article called “‘When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian,” that Kelly’s “credibility and his influence have been severely diminished,” citing anonymous administration officials. Kelly, The Post said, “has lost the trust and support of some of the staff” and “no one knows how many days remain for Kelly.”

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Axios’ Jonathan Swan also reported Saturday that Kelly “blew up at Trump” and “threatened to quit on March 28,” citing “sources familiar with the events, although Swan cited another source who said “it was more [about] venting frustration” than an actual threat.

Navarro disputed the claims and leveled criticism at The Post in particular for its “fake news.”

“Look, every day of his adult life, John Kelly’s gotten up in the morning to serve America,” Navarro said. “He serves the president. He has the president’s ear. He runs the West Wing well. That’s all I know. That’s all I see.”

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“But he has the confidence of the president. And he’s getting the job done,” Navarro added. “When you read stuff in The Washington Post, frankly, that’s fake news most of the time.”

Navarro claimed The Post “tends to attack the president more than any other newspaper in its news stories.”

“You can do anything you want in your editorials, sir. But you cannot do that in your news stories,” Navarro said.

National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow backed up Navarro’s claims about Kelly’s standing with Trump, saying Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Kelly “is in charge” and “is operating on a much-improved process.”

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“Every time the president and I talk and that subject comes up, the president has nothing but good things to say about General Kelly,” Kudlow said. “I don’t personally think this is a real story … Trump tweeted on it and doesn’t seem like he is pushing Kelly out.”

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Sure enough, Trump did take to Twitter Sunday to lash out at The Post for its “hit job” while defending Kelly and his standing.

“The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage — more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!” Trump tweeted.

There has long been speculation about Kelly’s longevity in the White House amid multiple administration turnovers in the past several months. Kelly, who replaced Reince Priebus as Trump’s chief of staff in July 2017, particularly fielded speculation after the Rob Porter controversy in February.

Porter resigned as White House staff secretary on February 7 after allegations of domestic abuse from his two ex-wives became public. Kelly reportedly was aware of the allegations before they became public, but chose to take no disciplinary actions.

PoliZette writer Kathryn Blackhurst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter.