United States President Donald Trump’s communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, is leaving the job after little over a week, the White House said on Monday, in the latest staff upheaval to hit the Republican’s six-month-old presidency.
Days after Scaramucci launched a profanity-laced tirade against fellow aides, the New York Times and Politico reported on Monday that Trump removed him at the request of the new White House chief of staff, retired General John Kelly.
“Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director,” the White House said in a statement.
“Mr Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best.”
Scaramucci’s departure follows one of the rockiest weeks of Trump’s presidency in which a major legislative effort – a healthcare overhaul – failed in Congress and both his spokesman and previous chief of staff left their jobs.
Scaramucci, an abrasive New York financier, had only been in the role since earlier this month.
Tensions in Trump’s inner circle erupted last week when Scaramucci attacked then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, in obscene comments published in The New Yorker magazine.
Earlier on Monday, Trump swore in his new chief of staff, Kelly, who is expected to bring a more disciplined approach to running what has become a chaotic White House.
Trump had on Friday replaced his beleaguered White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, after only six months on the job, installing Kelly in his place in a major shake-up of his top team.
Trump had announced the move in a tweet a day after Scaramucci accused Priebus of leaking information to reporters in a profanity-laced tirade.
Trump had lost confidence in Priebus, privately questioning his competence after major legislative items failed to pass the U.S. Congress, a Trump confidant said.
