U.S. President Donald Trump has removed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
According to the White House announcement on Monday, Scaramucci left because he “felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team.” The two-sentence release concluded, “We wish him all the best.”
Unnamed officials told Politico that Kelly was the one who requested Scaramucci’s removal. A source told Reuters that Kelly summoned Scaramucci to Kelly’s office on Monday morning and fired him on the spot. It was one of Kelly’s first acts as chief of staff.
Scaramucci, a Wall Street hedge fund manager who was also called “the Mooch,” was on Trump’s team for just over a week. He replaced the acting communications director Sean Spicer who resigned on July 21 after Scaramucci was appointed.
READ MORE: White House woes: A look at Anthony Scaramucci’s first week on the job
In his brief time as communications director, Scaramucci made a big splash in the media when he called a reporter at the New Yorker to complain about leaks in the White House in a profanity-laced rant, and also lambasted Trump’s then-chief of staff Reince Preibus. Preibus resigned that same week and was replaced by General John Kelly.
WATCH: Scaramucci attacks White House colleagues in profanity-laced rant
At Monday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump felt that Scaramucci’s comments were “inappropriate for a person in that position,” and that Kelly has Trump’s full confidence.
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She also clarified that Scaramucci would not be staying on staff at the White House.
Kelly, a retired general and former Department of Homeland Security secretary, was sworn in as Trump’s chief of staff earlier in the day.
Trump has said he hopes Kelly can bring some military order to an administration weighed down by a stalled legislative agenda, infighting among West Wing aides and a stack of investigations.
At the same time, Trump also denied there was “chaos” in the White House, saying things were going “very well.”
WATCH: John Kelly’s first day on the job as Donald Trump’s chief of staff
*with a file from the Associated Press
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