Anthony Scaramucci surprises White House staffer Michael Short with news of his own impending firing

Freshly minted White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Tuesday told Politico that he intends to fire Assistant Press Secretary Michael Short. Scaramucci's announcement, it seemed, was the first that Short had heard of his own impending firing. "No one has told me anything and the entire premise is false," Short said, shortly after Scaramucci spoke to Politico.
It's not yet clear when Scaramucci would ax Short. Apparently Short's role in the White House was a surprise to many, as he'd previously abruptly quit the Trump campaign. Politico reported that Short was "closely aligned" with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who recently submitted his resignation over Scaramucci's appointment to the team.
Short's possible dismissal could be the first in a long line of ousters from the communications team. Scaramucci is on a mission to rid the Trump communications and press shop of leakers, and he's made clear that he'll be ruthless if necessary. "I'm committed to taking the comms shop down to Sarah [Huckabee Sanders] and me, if I can't get the leaks to stop," Scaramucci told Politico.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scaramucci revealed that he dedicated his first day on the job to warning the communications team about leaks. "I offered amnesty in the meeting, but that decision is above my rank," Scaramucci said.
Read more on the story at Politico. Becca Stanek
Update 12:53 p.m. ET: Early Tuesday afternoon, Short announced his firing.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Interest rate cut: the winners and losers
The Explainer The Bank of England's rate cut is not good news for everyone
-
Quiz of The Week: 3 – 9 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will robots benefit from a sense of touch?
Podcast Plus, has Donald Trump given centrism a new lease of life? And was it wrong to release the deadly film Rust?
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations