Scaramucci fired as Trump's new chief of staff Kelly moves to impose order

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President Donald Trump's new chief of staff, John Kelly, is moving to impose order on an unruly and leak-prone White House, ousting bombastic communications director Anthony Scaramucci after a record-short 10-day tenure.

Mr. Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine general who previously served as secretary of homeland security, was sworn in on Monday to replace Reince Priebus, who was himself elbowed out last Friday by Mr. Scaramucci. Mr. Kelly's task is an urgent one, as the non-stop soap opera in this administration distracts it from its stalled legislative agenda and looming international crises, including the steady advance of North Korea's missile project.

And it remains to be seen whether Mr. Kelly can solve the West Wing's greatest discipline problem of all: the mercurial and unpredictable President. Not only does Mr. Trump have a penchant for making policy on the fly, he threatened last week to trigger another crisis within his administration by taking out loyal Attorney-General Jeff Sessions.

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Mr. Scaramucci was thrust into the spotlight two Fridays ago when Mr. Trump tapped him to take over his flagging communications operation. Mr. Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon and then-press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly all objected to his hiring, and Mr. Spicer subsequently resigned.

Known as "the Mooch," Mr. Scaramucci quickly earned the sobriquet "Mini-Me" for imitating his boss's body language and matching him in grandiloquence.

In a bid to crack down on leaks to the media, Mr. Scaramucci told reporters he was prepared to "fire everybody" in the White House communications shop. He also informed Politico that he planned to fire one of his press aides – without actually telling the aide, Michael Short, himself – then inexplicably cited the case as an example of an egregious leak.Last Wednesday night, he telephoned a New Yorker correspondent to accuse Mr. Priebus of leaking to reporters, describing him as a "paranoid schizophrenic," in a profanity-filled tirade that also insulted Mr. Bannon in vulgar terms.

"The President certainly felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a person in that position," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the daily press briefing on Monday, shortly after Mr. Scaramucci's departure was announced. "As I think we've made clear a few times over the course of the last couple of days … General Kelly has the full authority to operate within the White House, and all staff will report to him."

Axios and The New Yorker reported that Mr. Kelly had personally fired Mr. Scaramucci as one of his first orders of business after taking office Monday, but Ms. Sanders refused to divulge details about Mr. Scaramucci's ouster.

The apparently free hand Mr. Kelly will have represents more power than Mr. Priebus was allowed. Mr. Bannon and Mr. Scaramucci reported only to the President, and not through the chief of staff, while Mr. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, enjoy direct access to the President.

Mr. Trump's administration has been beset by infighting, with ever-shifting alliances reminiscent of a reality television program. The internecine warfare has stoked a culture of leaks as disgruntled staffers anonymously spill embarrassing information about their White House rivals to journalists.

Political analysts contend that there are serious consequences to the drama. For one, the White House has failed to advance any significant legislative priorities, with a health-care bill falling apart last week in the Senate. And it has consumed the administration's attention at a time of heightened international threats.

Last week, North Korea tested a ballistic missile that could hit Los Angeles or Chicago. And Moscow ordered the United States to cut the number of diplomats in Russia after Congress approved more sanctions on the country.

"Our allies and enemies both regard us as unpredictable and unreliable. The inability to get anything done makes his administration look unserious," said David Lublin, a professor in the department of government at American University in Washington. Mr. Trump is "looking like what he hates the most: He's looking like a loser and he's looking weak," Prof. Lublin said.

And for Mr. Kelly, fixing the problem will have to go beyond laying the law down with renegade aides.

Last week, Mr. Trump used Twitter to deride Mr. Sessions, who is popular with Mr. Trump's right-wing base, as "weak" for not prosecuting Hillary Clinton. Then, he used the social-media site to announce a surprise ban on transgender people serving in the military, without actually sorting out how such a policy would work; the Pentagon subsequently refused to implement it without more detail. On Saturday, he threatened to curtail trade with China because it had failed to control North Korea.

"The problem, of course, is how you manage the President: Can the Chief of Staff get the President to stop tweeting impulsively? Trump is facing his first serious test in North Korea, and tweeting about China doesn't seem to be helping," Prof. Lublin said.

In a final irony on Monday, one of the people whose departure Mr. Scaramucci triggered was still working in the West Wing after the now-former communications director was ushered out the door: Mr. Spicer's resignation does not take effect until August. And the wording of Mr. Scaramucci's departure announcement – that he was leaving to give Mr. Kelly "a clean slate" – echoed the White House's official explanation for Mr. Spicer leaving 10 days earlier, which said he wanted to do the same for Mr. Scaramucci.

"A great day at the White House!" Mr. Trump tweeted in the early evening.