Trump names fiery congressman Mark Meadows as new chief of staff

President Trump on Friday night named Rep. Mark Meadows as his new chief of staff, choosing a loyalist congressman and consummate communicator to run the White House.

Meadows, a North Carolina Republican who announced his retirement from Congress a few months ago, will replace Mick Mulvaney, another former lawmaker who had been serving as acting chief of staff for about a year. 

Mulvaney will become the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland. 

The president announced the change on Twitter.

"I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one," Trump said in one of two tweets announcing the change. 

Meadows is among Congress' most conservative members and a strong Trump ally, who helped unravel the false Russia collusion narrative and defend the president against impeachment. 

This President and his administration have a long list of incredible victories they've delivered to the country during this first term, with the best yet to come," Meadows said after his appointment. "And I look forward to helping build on that success and staying in the fight for the forgotten men and women of America."

Meadows gives Trump a strong communicator who often seeks to turn the tables on the president's frequent Democratic accusers. In November, for instance, he provided a fiery defense of the president on Fox News' Hannity show as Democrats accused Trump of trying to tie U.S. aid to investigations of Joe Biden in Ukraine.

"The President wanted nothing. He repeated it, he told them he wanted nothing at the time.," Meadows said  "The American people now want something, they want this corrupt impeachment process to end, they want it shut down,