WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump ousted recently hired White House
communications chief Anthony Scaramucci on Monday over an obscene tirade,
sources familiar with the decision said, in the latest staff upheaval for the
six-month-old administration.
The move,
coming just 10 days after the Republican president named Scaramucci to the
post, took place on the first day of work for Trump's new chief of staff, retired
Marine Corps General John Kelly, who sources said was seeking to impose order
on a White House riven with factions and backbiting.
"There's
a new sheriff in town," said Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign
adviser.
A Republican
close to Trump said the president fretted on the weekend over what to do about
Scaramucci, calling his advisers to ask their opinion, all of whom told him the
tough-talking aide had to go.
Trump was
annoyed about Scaramucci's lewd comments to The New Yorker magazine published
last Thursday and at how the abrasive New York financier appeared to inflate
the strength of their friendship, since he had started the 2016 presidential
election cycle as a fundraiser for two Trump rivals, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush.
Trump
decided it was time to cut him loose, the source said.
Kelly, who
also wanted him removed, summoned Scaramucci to Kelly's office on Monday
morning and fired him on the spot, the official said. It was one of Kelly's
first acts as chief of staff.
"A
great day at the White House!" Trump tweeted on Monday evening.
The
departure of Scaramucci followed one of the rockiest weeks of Trump's
presidency in which a major Republican effort to overhaul the U.S. healthcare
system failed in Congress and both his spokesman and previous chief of staff
left their jobs as White House infighting burst into the open.
Scaramucci's
comments to The New Yorker included a profanity-laced attack against then-White
House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon.
"The
president certainly felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a
person in that position," spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.
FILE PHOTO:
New White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, flanked by White
House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, speaks at the daily briefing at the White
House in Washington, U.S. July 21, 2017.
Jonathan
Ernst/File Photo
In a change
from previous procedure at the Trump White House, all staff will now report to
Kelly, including Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Sanders
said.
A Republican
official close to the White House said Kelly had been given wide authority to
impose order on the unruly Trump White House.
“Things will
run with regular order,” the official said, adding that even the president's
daughter and her husband, who both have senior roles at the White House, are
"not above the law."
At a dinner
on Saturday night at Trump's hotel near the White House, Trump told Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to expect some
staff changes, the official said. Kelly attended the dinner as well.
White House
Chief of Staff John Kelly stands before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East
Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 31, 2017.
Joshua Roberts
Inner Circle
Tensions in
Trump's inner circle erupted last week when Scaramucci assailed Priebus and
Bannon, two of the West Wing's most senior figures. He accused Priebus of
leaking information to the media. Priebus later resigned.
Trump
appeared on Monday with Kelly in the Oval Office and in a Cabinet meeting where
he predicted the new chief of staff would do a "spectacular job." He
praised Kelly for his tenure overseeing border security issues at the
Department of Homeland Security.
"With a
very controversial situation, there’s been very little controversy, which is
really amazing by itself," Trump said.
Republicans
fear that staff chaos at the White House could derail any attempt to revive
efforts to repeal and replace the Obamacare healthcare law and a plan to
overhaul the U.S. tax system.
The U.S.
dollar hit a more than 2-1/2-year low against the euro on Monday on month-end
portfolio adjustments and uncertainty over the U.S. political outlook after
Scaramucci's departure.
Aside from
domestic challenges, Trump is weighing how to respond to North Korea's latest
missile test - a sore point between Washington and Beijing. Trump has been
critical of China, North Korea's closest ally, saying it should do more to rein
in Pyongyang.
He is also
dealing with several investigations into allegations of Russian meddling in the
2016 U.S. presidential election, and has been frustrated that the probes are
also looking into potential collusion by his campaign. Moscow rejects the
charge it tried to swing the election in Trump's favor, and Trump denies his
campaign had anything to do with such interference.
0 Comments