Vice President Mike Pence convinced Director of Intelligence Dan Coats not to resign from the Trump administration, NBC News is reporting.
Frustrated by President Donald Trump, who NBC says refers to him as "Mister Rogers" when he doesn't do exactly what Trump wants, Coats was on the verge of quitting at the end of 2018.
But NBC cites unnamed officials saying that Pence talked him into staying on at least through this summer.
Pushing Coats to the brink was Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and the departure of former Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to NBC News. But Coats had already grown frustrated by a number of other actions by the president, including the push to find evidence that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him
Pence is reportedly Coats’ closest ally in the administration. And NBC News reported the relationship between Coats and the president has stabilized for now.
Pence is said to have convinced Coats that leaving the administration so soon after Mattis would be viewed as a major upheaval in the Trump team. The network news attributed its information to current and former senior administration officials.
Asked for comment, Coats said: "I am focused on doing my job, and it is frustrating to repeatedly be asked to respond to anonymous sources and unsubstantiated, often false rumors that undercut the critical work of the intelligence community and its relationship with the president."
Last month, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, warned Trump not to fire Coats The warning came after Coats contradicted Trump on ISIS, North Korea and Iran during congressional testimony.