Donald Trump says interior secretary to leave in latest high-profile departure

Donald Trump said Saturday that his interior secretary will be leaving at the end of the year -- the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the US president's turnover-plagued administration.

"Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years," Trump wrote on Twitter, adding that a replacement would be announced next week.

On the other hand, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday moved to end speculation that he was having a hard time finding a new chief of staff, naming his budget chief Mick Mulvaney to the top post on a temporary basis.

Mulvaney, a hard-charging conservative and former congressman, will be the third person in two years to try to bring order to what has often been a chaotic White House. Trump named him after two other prominent candidates withdrew from consideration in the space of a week.

"For the record, there were MANY people who wanted to be the White House Chief of Staff," Trump said on Twitter. "Mick M will do a GREAT job!"

The job is seen as one of the most important jobs in Washington: the gatekeeper to the president charged with marshalling the resources of the office to carry out his priorities.