Washington - US President Donald Trump
fired his communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, on Monday
after little over a week in the job because of an obscene
tirade, sources familiar with the decision said, in the latest
staff upheaval to hit the Republican's six-month-old presidency.
Scaramucci's departure follows 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.
The sources said Scaramucci had been damaged by comments he
made to The New Yorker magazine last week in which he attacked
then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump's chief
strategist, Steve Bannon, in profanity-laden terms.
Trump removed Scaramucci on the same day he swore in a new
White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general
who is expected to bring more discipline to running what has
become a chaotic White House.
"There's going to be new leadership and I'm not sure the new
leadership thought he was up to the task of being a team
player," one of the sources told Reuters.
The New York Times and Politico reported that Kelly had
asked Trump to remove Scaramucci, an abrasive New York
financier.
"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 was named to the role only 10 days ago.
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 averting
controversy during 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 euro currency hit a 2-1/2-year high against the U.S.
dollar of $1.1835 after reports that Trump was removing
Scaramucci. Japan's yen also rose against the dollar.
Reuters