Trump fired me after 11 days - he's totally reckless but I still admire 1 thing about him

You might think there would be no way back from being humiliatingly fired from your job after 11 days by Donald Trump in the full glare of the world's media. Yet Anthony Scaramucci's brutal dismissal as the US president's communications director before barely settling at his desk turned out not to be the end of his career, but a new beginning.

The former Goldman Sachs investment banker had been raising millions of dollars for the Republicans' 2016 election campaign behind the scenes when he was unexpectedly thrust into the limelight as Mr Trump's chief spin-doctor. Things very quickly went south when Mr Scaramucci was exposed venting his fury at White House colleagues in a conversation he wrongly thought was off the record. Mr Trump quickly showed him the door in a tenure that makes even Liz Truss's brief spell as UK prime minister seem like an age - or, as the man himself self-depracatingly puts it, "4.1 Scaramuccis".

But even though the 61-year-old admits taking the job was a "huge mistake", he tells the Express in an exclusive interview that his abrupt sacking turned out to be "the best of the outcomes".

Since his ignominious exit from the White House, Mr Scaramucci has turned on his former boss and become one of Mr Trump's most outspoken critics.

His Rest is Politics US podcast, where he gives a colourful weekly take on American politics with fellow host Katty Kay, has quickly become one of the UK's most popular shows since its launch in April 2024.

Reflecting on his 2017 dismissal, Mr Scaramucci says: "I've said repeatedly it was a huge mistake on my part to take that job," but he adds: "There was a silver lining to it.

"If I didn't take the job, I probably wouldn't have had the platform to speak out about events and some of the things he's doing.

"If I didn't take the job, I don't think my podcast would be doing as well. In fact, I don't think I would have been offered the opportunity to do a bunch of stuff.

"In hindsight, was I lucky to be fired as quickly as I was? The answer is yes, because I was able to restore my business, restore my personal reputation, and restore my marriage, which was obviously very important to me.

"Being fired as quickly as I was, even though it looked really bad at the time and I was going through a miserable time, I think it was the best of the outcomes."

While his exit clearly opened up new opportunities, the founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital also believes "it was almost like the universe saved me from something way worse".

Mr Scaramucci is currently writing a book about the rise of populism and tribalism in the US, which he sees as a major threat to the future.

Mr Trump spearheaded the populist Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, with its "America First" trade policies and rhetoric to "drain the swamp" of Washington insiders - and Mr Scaramucci is glad he is no longer part of it.

"The theory behind the book is we got a little bit too confident, a little bit too cocky when the Berlin Wall came down, and then we started to make some decisions that we didn't think through all the consequences of," he says.

"If you study cycles of history, it feels like we're four generations out now from the Second World War," he says.

"There are politicians in their mid-40s who are now questioning all of the institutions we set up at the end of the Second World War.

"They're questioning the reasons why they were set up and the worthiness of those things."

He thinks "the next election is going to be a crucible election in the US ... between a populist and a non-populist", although he still does not rule out Mr Trump "trying to push some type of insurrection act or martial law" to stay in power.

"I think that's going to be a very important election, because if it's a populist or MAGA person, they'll try to further solidify the changes that Trump's making to the structure of the government," adds Mr Scaramucci.

"They'll try to empower the executive branch, make the executive branch bolder, make the executive branch liquidate the other two branches.

"I want to be acknowledging that something is happening right now, and it could potentially be permanent - and if it is permanent, what are the ramifications of it.

"We could be entering into a new age in America, away from the older age and the older order. And the question is - is that really something we want to do?"

Mr Scaramucci believes the shockwave the US president sent through the global economy by slapping extortionate tariffs on goods is a sign of Mr Trump being "more ruthless" during his second term in office.

"He had normal, establishment Republicans in his first term who were offering some guardrails," says the podcaster.

"Those tariffs you saw on April 2 were things he wanted to put through in 2018, early 2019, but it got blocked, it got pushed down and submerged by those guys."

Yet while he is a staunch opponent of the Republican firebrand and supported both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's bids for the presidency, he admits: "There are parts you have to look at and admire."

He says those who do not give the president credit for helping to secure a peace deal in Gaza - even if a Nobel Peace Prize eluded him - have a severe case of "Trump derangement syndrome", a term frequently used to describe the Left's wildly negative reaction to him.

"It was Trump's influence, the nature of his personality, the intimidation, the tactics that he's willing to use that perhaps other leaders are not willing to," he says.

"If you don't give him credit for it, I think it's a sign that you're not being objective, frankly."

He is continuing to use strongman tactics to threaten Hamas over not upholding the ceasefire deal, and is similarly flexing his muscles on both Russia and Ukraine.

Yet Mr Scaramucci says there is "good Trump and bad Trump", like yin and yang forces fighting each other.

"Good Trump - he's able to flex on people to get them to do what he wants, potentially to even help the situation in Ukraine," he says.

"Having said that, there's bad Trump. I don't think Trump's story ends well. That's just my honest opinion of it. I think there's too much recklessness, and there's been too much abuse of power.

"It could be a disaster going forward. So for all those reasons, I'm glad I'm absolved from it and out of it."

He thinks there "could be trouble ahead looming" for the US president and questions why the commander-in-chief has not heaped pressure on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

"I think Putin has a reluctant influence over him," he says. "I think Trump is p***** at Putin, but he won't act against him, because I think Putin does have something on him.

"What does he have? I do not know. I think all of us are puzzled by that.

"You've seen the Russian military really be weakened by the Ukrainian army. It's a very weak situation for Russia. He could topple them, but he's chosen not to do that.

"When the window's open and you hear clippity-clop, it's a horse - it's not a zebra. We shouldn't overthink things. There's something going on in that relationship that Trump is worried about."

Plenty of observers on this side of the pond are also worried about the euphoric rise of Reform UK's Nigel Farage, who many believe uses a similar populist playbook.

His surging popularity has caused sharp divisions. Some Tories think they should cut a deal with Reform, while others criticise Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for talking up Mr Farage as his main opponent.

Mr Scaramucci says of Mr Farage: "It's important to take his movement seriously. If you're not taking his movement seriously, I think it's dangerous.

"I think the rise of these types of populist leaders usually stem from a failure of their opposition.

"I don't know the Starmer administration as well as you, but if someone was asking me, I would say 'you've got to take more risks. You could lose to a guy like this'.

"I think that would be very bad for Britain long term."

One area where Mr Scaramucci - whose book, Solana Rising, about the opportunities in cryptocurrency, is released on November 25 - thinks Labour should definitely take more risks is the economy.

Growth has been broadly stagnant since the 2008 financial crash under Gordon Brown, with many claiming Chancellor Rachel Reeves has only made matters worse.

"I think one of the problems Great Britain has, from my observation, is that they tie their shoelaces together before trying to run," he says.

"There's too much regulation and too much failed tax policy.

"I get that poor people probably don't like favourable tax treatment for rich people, but those people support a lot of middle-class jobs. They can leave, which they are doing.

"I think it's a mistake by the country to do that. I would be less focused on Left-leaning policy or Right-leaning, but what's right or wrong for the country."