Trump's press secretary quits amid reported dispute

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has quit as White House press secretary.

Mr Spicer is said to have resigned after denouncing chaos in the West Wing and telling President Donald Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the Wall Street financier and Fox News contributor Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director.

On his only official interview, Mr Spicer took a milder tone, telling Fox News there were "too many cooks in the kitchen."

Mr Scaramucci will be the Trump administration's third communications director. The first, Michael Dubke, resigned in May, shortly after Mr Trump let it be known he was considerating a shake-up. Since Mr Dubke's departure, Mr Spicer has served as both press secretary and acting communications director.

US pundits say Mr Scaramucci could be better-placed to fulfil the press secretary role, as he has known Mr Trump for years and is likely to be better at reading the president.

However, despite their reported friendship, the Wall Street financier criticised Mr Trump at times on social media during the presidential campaign. He is now trying to clean house:

Trump's new communications director deleting old tweets bashing Trump https://t.co/A1KUZbfbz4 pic.twitter.com/x27JScxiVq

— The Hill (@thehill) July 22, 2017

Dems troll new White House hire for old tweets calling for action to fight climate change https://t.co/3DhJknldbz pic.twitter.com/yFJ8BO62EK

— The Hill (@thehill) July 22, 2017

Mr Spicer got off on the wrong foot with the press corps as some of his first appearances involved defending Mr Trump's statement that his inauguration crowd was larger than Barack Obama's (an assertion that defied photographic evidence).

With Mr Spicer often struggling to keep up with the president's thinking, his deputy, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, has increasingly fronted press briefings. Ms Huckabee Sanders will now succeed her boss in his lead role.

Mr Spicer has at times been apparently blindsided, notably with the President's tweets over the sacking of FBI director James Comey and, just a few days ago, Mr Trump's interview with the New York Times during which he made caustic comments about Attorney-General Jeff Sessions.

Despite his repeated assertion that the Times is biased and a perpetrator of fake news, Mr Trump chose the paper for a lengthy, exclusive interview — the headline from which was his caustic remarks about Mr Sessions, and his assertion that he would never have appointed him if he had known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Mr Trump also expressed anger that Mr Sessions had not told him about his decision to recuse himself.

Mr Trump's comments were widely interpreted as a message for Mr Sessions to resign, but so far the AG has not taken the hint.

POSTSCRIPT

Taking the White House briefing room podium for the first time, new press secretary Anthony Scaramucci thanked Sean Spicer for his service and wished him well.

"I applaud his efforts here and I love the guy and I wish him well," Mr Scaramucci said.

"And I hope he goes on to make a tremendous amount of money."

It was recently revealed that Mr Spicer was on a relatively modest salary for the most high-profile comms job on the planet. 

After a lifetime of government department and Republican Party comms roles, Mr Spicer may now make more money from the private sector — or, if his skills are not wanted there, through a book deal.