Scaramucci: White House plotters seeking Trump exit

There are people in Washington DC working against President Donald Trump, the former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has said.

He said there were "elements" within the White House trying to eject Mr Trump, and he had "named some names".

Mr Scaramucci spoke to ABC News for the first time since being sacked last month - after just 10 days in office.

It followed a phone recording in which he strongly attacked then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

He also directed profanity-laced insults at Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.

Mr Scaramucci said he had thought the interview was off the record, and he had "paid the consequences for that conversation".

"What happens in Washington... is the president is not a representative of the political establishment class, so for whatever reason the people have made a decision that they want to eject him," he told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Sunday.

"I think there are elements inside of Washington, also inclusive in the White House, that are not necessarily abetting the president's interests or his agenda."

However, he said the president needed to bring in "more loyalists" in order to carry out his agenda.

The Wall Street financier criticised the influence of Mr Bannon and the right-wing Breitbart News website, which he helped to launch.

He suggested the president needed to move more towards the mainstream and moderates in order to push through "a very successful legislative agenda".

Mr Scaramucci made a lasting impact in his short term in office, triggering a White House shake-up that saw the departure of both Mr Priebus and spokesman Sean Spicer.