Donald Trump’s decision to further elevate the role of senior US military figures in his administration with the appointment of John Kelly as chief of staff is explicitly aimed at bringing discipline to a White House riven by chaos and infighting.

But whether the former marine corps general will impose order to a freewheeling White House where the president is accustomed to making decisions on the basis of little consultation depends in large part on whether he can convince Mr Trump himself to change. 

Military figures are trained to take orders from the commander-in-chief rather than challenge him, yet those who know Mr Kelly say he exhibits a plain-speaking authority that should give him a better chance of imposing order than the departing chief of staff, Reince Priebus.