FILE - In this March 22, 2018, file photo, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney speaks in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump has named Mulvaney as his new chief of staff. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
FILE - In this March 22, 2018, file photo, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney speaks in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump has named Mulvaney as his new chief of staff. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta

Washington — President Donald Trump on Friday picked budget director Mick Mulvaney to be his acting chief of staff, ending a chaotic search in which several top contenders took themselves out of the running for the job.

“Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration,” Trump tweeted. “I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump added that his current chief of staff, John Kelly, will be staying until the end of the year. “He is a GREAT PATRIOT and I want to personally thank him for his service!” Trump wrote.

Trump’s first pick for the job, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers, took himself out of the running last weekend and decided to leave the White House instead. The decision caught the president and many senior staffers by surprise, and Trump soon found that others he considered front-runners were not interested in the job.

It was not immediately clear why the president decided to make Mulvaney’s appointment temporary. One senior White House official said there was no time limit on the appointment and Mulvaney would fill the role of chief of staff indefinitely, regardless of the “acting” title.