Longtime Trump aide Keith Schiller left his White House position on Wednesday, according to a report from CNN.
Schiller, a former security chief to Trump who is close to the president, had been telling confidants for weeks that he was close to leaving, according to numerous reports. Schiller was said to be unhappy about having his access to the president reduced by new White House chief of staff John Kelly.
The former Trump aide has also reportedly been unhappy with the reduced paycheck he was forced to take upon joining the administration. CNN reports his White House salary at $165,000, a significant drop from his former earnings in the Trump Organization, where he earned $294,000 a year.
{mosads}Schiller has worked for Trump in New York since at least 1999 and began serving as Trump’s director of security in 2004. Until Wednesday, he served in the White House as director of Oval Office operations.
The former New York City police officer was the only Trump bodyguard to stay on after Trump received Secret Service protection during the campaign. Schiller was tasked during campaign rallies with removing rowdy and hostile protesters from venues during Trump campaign speeches.
Schiller caught the spotlight earlier this year when he was selected as the aide whose job it was to hand-deliver news of former FBI Director James Comey’s firing to the FBI.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters earlier this month that rumors of Schiller’s departure were “not true” and that Schiller planned to stay in the administration.