Donald Trump: Anthony Scaramucci’s rant sends White House into civil war

A BITTER two-man feud plaguing the White House is putting Donald Trump’s agenda in peril — and it’s only going to get worse.

THE bitter feud plaguing the White House is stopping the Trump administration from functioning properly — and it’s only going to get worse.

An “all-out civil war” exploded into public view today after Mr Trump’s new Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci, unleashed a foul-mouthed rant about his colleagues.

In a phone call with the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, Mr Scaramucci called White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus a “f***ing paranoid schizophrenic, paranoiac” and claimed he would be “asked to resign very shortly”.

Speculation is mounting that Mr Priebus, the most senior staffer in the administration, could be fired or forced to quit soon.

Dougal Robinson, research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, told news.com.au the dysfunction and personal intrigue within the White House is immensely distracting, and incredibly, the President himself doesn’t seem too concerned.

“The Trump Administration is having trouble focusing on and implementing its policy objectives,” he said.

“President Trump has not yet achieved a major legislative success.”

Donald Trump’s White House is in chaos. Picture: AP

Mr Robinson, who recently published a report on the Trump administration on how Australia can better engage with the unprecedented US administration, said many Washington insiders believe Mr Priebus will be gone within months.

His report, Make it Personal, Trump, Congress and Australia’s avenues of influence, says “Priebus is a weak chief of staff, and it is telling that Scaramucci reports directly to President Trump”.

Mr Robinson said the President valued Mr Scaramucci’s loyalty, but warned this could come at a cost.

“He likes surrogates to defend him on television in the strongest possible terms. However, the President must realise that bitter, overt infighting between his advisers is capturing media bandwidth and harming his administration’s capacity to succeed.”

White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. Pic: AP

TEAM OF RIVALS

Mr Robinson said it was clear that deep, bitter disputes between Mr Trump’s advisers are likely to plague the administration for some time, particularly as the President appears to enjoy having his staffers at each other’s throats.

“As a businessman, Donald Trump used to stoke competition between his advisers,” he said. “There is little indication that Trump wants a unified, smoothly-functioning White House — the appointment of a character like Anthony Scaramucci indicates that President Trump has little interest in running a ‘normal’ White House.”

As long as the current situation persists, it will be extremely difficult for the administration to ever function effectively, Mr Robinson said.

He pointed out that Mr Trump’s White House advisers are very ideologically diverse, with different tribes engaged in bitter struggles for the President’s attention. Their disagreements are increasingly being played out in the media.

“Such distrust between rival camps in the White House makes it very difficult for the Trump Administration to function,” he said.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is under pressure. Picture: AFP

AMERICA REACTS

While the President himself may not appear concerned by the fiasco, others certainly have noticed the impact it is having on the administration.

Fox News Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham told former House speaker Newt Gingrich said it was an example of the administration “stepping on it’s good news.”

“Even if you’re a “straight shooter, sometimes these fights are better settled behind closed doors rather than in public,” she said.

“I like Scaramucci, but this incident is humiliating to the President.”

Mr Gingrich said he felt the unfolding “soap opera” was blocking people from seeing the bigger picture, Mediaite reported.

“The White House should focus on actually solving real things and people should work together and realise that the primary opponents are outside the White House they’re not inside the White House,” he said.

Hours before news of the phone call emerged, he told Ms Ingraham in a radio interview that Mr Scaramucci is “full of himself” the Washington Examiner reported.

“I think he got down here from New York, and he is all excited. Frankly, he is talking more than he is thinking. He needs to slow down and learn the business.”

NBC News Chief Foreign correspondent Richard Engel tweeted intelligence officials told him they were also concerned the debacle left the White House in a weak position.

US intel officials tell me they’re worried the chaos at WH leaves US in weak position to deal with any potential major int crisis

— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) July 27, 2017

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT US?

Mr Robinson said it was hard to know what effect the chaos in the White House will have on America’s relations with Australia.

However a top former top US Federal Reserve economist has warned Australian households and businesses are directly suffering the consequences of growing economic policymaking dysfunction in Mr Trump’s Washington.

Vincent Reinhart told Fairfax the dysfunction pushed the dollar through 80 US cents for the first time in two years, which in turn made life difficult for America’s trading partners including Australia.

Chief economist for ABC Bullion Jordan Eliseo told news.com.au the ramifications went even further.

“The political shenanigans in Washington are a negative for the US dollar, as well as for confidence about global growth,” he said.

“For Australia, the recent strong rally in the AUD complicates matters for the RBA, who would prefer the currency to head lower.

“Despite their justifiable concerns about house prices and household debt, they will inevitably end up cutting interest rates further to support domestic growth rates and inflation levels.”

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