Trump's media chief sacked just 10 days after appointment
What's the story
The White House under Donald Trump is increasingly looking like an episode of 'The Apprentice.' The Trump administration has fired White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, less than 10 days after his appointment. Scaramucci was criticized for going on a profanity-laden tirade against his colleagues in an interview. He is the latest of several senior Trump officials who have been fired or have quit.
27 Jul 2017
Scaramucci called Priebus "a f**king paranoid schizophrenic"
On July 27, Trump's newly appointed communications director Anthony Scaramucci described Priebus as "a f**king paranoid schizophrenic" in an on-the-record call with the New Yorker. Scaramucci accused Priebus of leaking information about the Trump administration to the press. He said Priebus will "be asked to resign very shortly." He also made vulgar statements against chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Why?
Why was Scaramucci fired?
The decision to fire Scaramucci, a former Wall Street financier, was taken by Trump's new chief of staff Gen John Kelly. President Trump too was unhappy with Scaramucci's performance. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump felt Scaramucci's comments to the reporter "were inappropriate for a person in that position." Sanders said he hasn't been shifted to another White House role.
Analysis
Scaramucci disrupted established order
Scaramucci made his way into the White House as a "fast-talking New Yorker whose fanatical devotion to the president was matched only by his distaste for the established order," wrote the BBC's Anthony Zurcher. Scaramucci certainly did disrupt order, leading to Press Secretary Sean Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus' resignations. Scaramucci's dismissal would be a short term embarrassment for the president.
Departures
Scaramucci latest top Trump administration official to depart
Scaramucci is the latest of a number of senior Trump administration officials to resign or be dismissed. Over the past six months Trump has lost a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, national security adviser, two communications directors and a press secretary. This has raised questions about Trump's choices of personnel and has hampered his administration's ability to move ahead with his agenda.