Trump fires communications director 10 days after
US President Donald Trump has removed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci from the role just 10 days after appointing him.
Trump removed Scaramucci at the request of John Kelly, who took over as White House chief of staff Monday.
Scaramucci had issued a profanity-filled tirade against the previous chief of staff, Reince Priebus, last week amid broader tumult among the White House staff.
“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.
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.
Trump has suffered more turnover among this top aides than any modern president,
In just over six months in office, Trump has shed his first national security adviser (Michael Flynn), communications director (Mike Dubke), press secretary (Sean Spicer), deputy chief of staff (Katie Walsh), deputy national security adviser (K.T. McFarland) and his chief of staff.
His attorney general, Republican former senator Jeff Sessions, has been in an increasingly tenuous position, with the president openly criticising him, but stopping short of firing him or asking him to resign.
