Sean Spicer resigns as Trump's White House press secretary
The long-anticipated shake-up of Donald Trump’s communications team has finally taken place with Sean Spicer resigning as press secretary and Anthony Scaramucci appointed director of communications.
After months of speculation that the 45-year-old was poised to leave the White House, it was announced that deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had been promoted to fill his position.
“It’s been an honour & a privilege to serve @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & this amazing country,” Mr Spicer tweeted, adding that he would remain in his position until August.
Mr Trump had asked his press secretary to stay on, according to The New York Times, but Mr Spicer told the President that the appointment of Mr Scaramucci was a big mistake.
Mr Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier and longtime supporter of Mr Trump, will replace Mike Dubke, who resigned from the job in May amid the fallout from primarily Russia-related scandals.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus – a former Republican Party chairman who had brought Mr Spicer into the White House – also reportedly disapproves of Mr Trump’s pick for communications director.
During the transition, Mr Trump had intended to appoint Mr Scaramucci as director of his office of public liaison, but the offer was pulled at the request of Mr Priebus because of concerns about the financier’s overseas investments.
It is likely that the President selected Mr Scaramucci because of his demonstrated loyalty. The financier, who founded the global investment firm SkyBridge Capital and is a Fox News contributor, has on multiple occasions spiritedly defended the President on television. Mr Trump has constantly felt that his communications team was not doing enough to defend him.
Mr Scaramucci will be joining the administration when friction between the White House and the press is high. Mr Trump has criticised several news organisations, and his communications team has received backlash for holding fewer on-camera briefings. Mr Spicer has said the change was meant to draw more attention to the President’s remarks, but some reporters have asserted that the White House “should have the backbone” to answer questions during on-camera proceedings.
Mr Spicer’s resignation comes after the President reshuffled his personal legal team, which is building Mr Trump’s defence against allegations of collusion with the Russian government around the 2016 election.
Jonathan Karl, the chief White House correspondent for ABC News, tweeted that when he asked Mr Spicer a question about the new director of communications, the press secretary “slammed the door” in his face.
Minutes later, it was reported that Mr Spicer had resigned.
Throughout his six-month tenure as the White House press secretary, Mr Spicer became known for his combative style with the press that inspired a caricature of him on Saturday Night Live.
A former Republican National Committee spokesman and strategist, Mr Spicer was on the frontline defending Mr Trump’s directives and decisions, from the controversial travel ban to the President’s abrupt firing of James Comey as FBI director in May.
Mr Trump’s social media use and off-the-cuff communication style are also likely to remain a thorn in the side of his staff. The President’s tweets and statements he makes during interviews often contradict messages from his own White House – issues that Mr Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders have had to deal with during press briefings.
