WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that White House chief of staff John Kelly will leave his job at the end of the year.

Trump called Kelly "a great guy," when speaking to reporters at the White House before leaving for the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.

"He's been with me almost two years now, between two positions," he said."I appreciate his service very much."

The president said he would announce Kelly's successor "over the next day or two."

Kelly, Trump's second chief of staff, took over the position from Reince Priebus in July 2017. Before that, he was the Trump administration's first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

The retired Marine Corps general was long rumored to be on the way out.