Anthony Scaramucci in furious, foul-mouthed tirade against White House colleagues

New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has launched a searing foul-mouthed attack on his most senior colleagues, describing one as a "paranoid schizophrenic."

Scaramucci told an interviewer that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is “a fucking paranoid schizophrenic” who will be asked to resign, and that Scaramucci is not like Steve Bannon, the chief strategist, because “I’m not trying to suck my own cock”.

Scaramucci  was upset that the reporter, New Yorker correspondent Ryan Lizza, had tweeted about who he was dining with. Lizza wrote that Scaramucci called him on Wednesday night, angry that Lizza had tweeted that the communications director was having dinner at the White House with Trump; his wife, Melania; Fox News host Sean Hannity; and former Fox News executive Bill Shine.

The conversation with Lizza was littered with profanity-laced insults directed at Priebus and Bannon.

“They're trying to resist me, but it's not going to work," he said, adding that Priebus would soon resign. Turning his sights on Trump's chief strategist, Scaramucci made it very clear he believes Bannon is working in the White House to serve his own interests, using particularly offensive language.

He is quoted as saying: “I ask these guys not to leak anything, and they can’t help themselves. You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.”

According to Lizza, Scaramucci believed the fact that the dinner had been exposed was evidence that his rivals, and Priebus in particular, were conspiring against him. As they discussed the matter further, Lizza writes, Scaramucci “was getting more and more worked up, and he eventually convinced himself that Priebus was my source”.

Scaramucci later tweeted his regret at the "colourful language". He did not deny the nature of the conversation as it was reported.