טראמפ
טראמפצילום: רויטרס

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump released a statement on Friday announcing that he had accepted the abrupt resignation of campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

“This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign. I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success," the statement read.

This official announcement statement came shortly after reports of the resignation broke on Twitter.

"I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success," Trump said.

Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March to steer the New York businessman through the Republican primary process and convention, taking over after Trump fired longtime campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in June, noted The Wall Street Journal.

But Manafort has in recent weeks been the subject of a series of reports about his connection to pro-Russian political forces in Ukraine.

His resignation comes Trump tries to restructure his campaign, after polls taken both nationally and in battleground states have showed the Republican losing ground to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Much of the damages has been caused due to Trump’s controversies, including the fight with the family of a Muslim-American soldier who died in Iraq and House Speaker Paul Ryan, his statement at a rally that sounded like he was inciting gun owners to violence against Clinton; and his remarks calling Clinton and President Barack Obama “founders” of ISIS, which he later said were sarcastic.