Shake-ups continue in White House

Ex-general flexes muscle his first day on the job as chief of staff

WASHINGTON - US 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 rived 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 at 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 week and at how the abrasive New York financier appeared to inflate the strength of their friendship, since he had started the presidential election cycle last year 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 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 later.

The departure of Scaramucci followed one of the rockiest weeks of Trump's presidency in which a major Republican effort to overhaul the 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," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.

In a change from previous procedure at the White House, all staff will now report to Kelly, including Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Sanders said.

Inner circle

A Republican official close to the White House said Kelly had been given wide authority to impose order on the unruly Trump White House.

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 US tax system.

Reuters - Ap - Xinhua