Don't be surprised if President Donald Trump's axed White House communications director appears back in government sometime down the road, political strategist Sara Fagen told CNBC on Tuesday.
On Monday, Trump dismissed Anthony Scaramucci from his post only 10 days after he was appointed. It came days after Scaramucci unloaded on former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon in an expletive-laden rant to a New Yorker reporter.
"Donald Trump has a long history of people exiting and re-entering his orbit," Fagen, a former senior aide to President George W. Bush, said on "Squawk Box." "Just because Anthony Scaramucci is gone today — I don't think he'll come back to the West Wing — but he may be back in a prominent role in government sometime down the road."
Fagen said Scaramucci's dismissal was also an important opportunity for newly appointed chief of staff John Kelly to put his foot down and say, "I'm in charge. There are new guardrails on how this West Wing is going to operate."
Trump said Friday that Reince Priebus was out as White House chief of staff and Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, will succeed him. Kelly had been secretary of Homeland Security. He served in the Marine Corps for 45 years, ending his career as commander of the U.S. Southern Command.
Kelly requested Scaramucci's removal, according to The New York Times, which first reported the move.
"If you think about Gen. Kelly and the way he's conducted himself throughout his professional life. If you think about the way virtually every member of the military conducts him or herself, these things were incongruous. I don't see how Anthony Scaramucci could report to Gen. Kelly or certainly report around him," said Fagen, a partner at DDC Public Affairs.
In a statement on Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Scaramucci felt it was best to give Kelly "a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best."
In a later press briefing Monday, Sanders said Scaramucci has "no role at this time in the Trump administration."