Chris Christie off list of White House chief of staff candidates

Former Governor of the U.S. state of New Jersey, Chris Christie, said Friday he didn't want to be appointed as President Donald Trump's chief of staff, becoming another person to turn the president down in his week-long search that is still without an outcome.

Chris Christie, former governor of the U.S. state of New Jersey [File Photo: VCG]

"I have told the president that now is not the right time for me or my family to undertake this serious assignment," Christie said in a statement. "As a result, I have asked him to no longer keep me in any of his considerations for this post."

Trump's opponent in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Christie was recently believed to be the leading contender for the head of the president' s executive office. He discussed the issue with Trump at the White House on Thursday.

The president is scheduled to have lunch on Friday with another candidate for the job, his former deputy campaign manager David Bossie, Bloomberg news reported.

Earlier on Friday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters that Trump is considering five names in the search for his new chief of staff.

Speaking to the press on the White House lawn, Gidley said he expects a presidential decision to be made soon. He also suggested that Trump may extend the deal with John Kelly, the incumbent chief of staff who the president on Saturday said will leave the post at the end of the year.

Gidley's remarks are a reiteration of what Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. "Five people, really good ones," the president said.

Bloomberg news cited White House senior aide Kellyanne Conway as saying on Tuesday that Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, will stay until at least Jan. 2.

Following Nick Ayers's refusal on Sunday to fill the vacancy, Trump, in his own words, has been "in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position."

Ayers, the 36-year-old chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, reportedly told Trump he could only serve until spring, but the president asked for a two-year term.

As the choice still hangs in the air, U.S. media have revealed a number of possible nominees, among them Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, House Republican Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

While Meadows had already withdrawn himself from consideration, Mnuchin said Thursday he is happy with his current duty, hinting, however, that he would accept the president's appointment.

"I'm happy where I am ... Whatever the president wants," Mnuchin said.