According to the New York Times, leaks from six separate White House sources claim that the unpopular US president, growing increasingly anxious at the inability of his staff to craft a message that will reverse the downward trend of his public image, is on the brink of firing much of his close staff, including Press Secretary Sean Spicer and right-wing White House advisor Steve Bannon.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been highly critical of Trump for firing the FBI director. The president is "frustrated, and angry at everyone," according to a source close to the president, cited by news and information company Axios. "The advice he's getting is to go big — that he has nothing to lose."
Among anticipated changes are suggestions that Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle could become the White House press secretary, or that current Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders could replace Spicer.
Current White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is also said to be on the chopping block, as well as former Breitbart head Steve Bannon, who was recently booted from the US National Security Council.
A former military communications official, current White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been responsible for more than a few significant gaffes since his appointment to the post of White House press secretary.
Earlier this year Spicer compared Syrian President Bashar Assad to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, claiming that even the notorious Hitler did not go so far as to use chemical weapons against his own people in World War II.
When it was pointed out that Hitler gassed to death millions of German Jews — and others — during the Holocaust, there was little evident repercussion.
Spicer also claimed that Trump "acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions" when the president fired FBI Director Comey.
Trump, however, pointedly refuted Spicer's statement, suggesting during a television interview that Comey's firing was not based upon recommendations from Rosenstein and Sessions.
"I was going to fire regardless of the recommendation," Trump asserted during the interview, reiterating, "Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey."
In another oft-cited — and oft-mocked — incident, Spicer attempted to avoid questions by spending a brief period of time "hidden in the darkness and among bushes" outside of the White House, according to the The Washington Post.
