White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has been fired after just a week into the job, according to reports.
Scaramucci was brought in by Trump personally to serve as President Donald Trump’s point man for the media, but lost confidence with staff after having a frank and profane conversation with New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza who published the details.
“Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders 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 exit signals that White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly is taking further control of Trump’s administration, despite the president’s earlier decision to hire him. Scaramucci served in his position for just 10 days before leaving the White House.
It is unclear who will replace him in his position. White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned after Scaramucci took the job and reportedly has been meeting with media executives about his future. Spicer had agreed to stay on for a few weeks while Scaramucci got settled, but is technically still at the White House.
When Scaramucci was hired, Trump agreed to allow him to report directly to the president, sidestepping chief of staff Reince Priebus and his authority. Priebus was fired on Friday, shortly after Scaramucci’s rant was published.
The New Yorker article was fatal to Scaramucci’s White House career, as the profane nature of the conversation upset and embarrassed many Trump staffers. Kelly reportedly wanted to set a new tone after taking his new position, using Scaramucci as an example. As a Marine, Kelly wants to install a new sense of discipline in the West Wing.