Scaramucci Denies WH Return; Admits He'd Consider It

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci Thursday said he still believes in President Donald Trump's agenda, but he strongly denied reports claiming that he is saying that he plans to return to the White House — but admitted he would consider returning if asked.

"I didn't say I wouldn't consider [it]," said Scaramucci on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "I'm an American patriot. I would do whatever the president asks me to do. But I'm not a guy where I said to anybody, 'oh, the president wants me back in the White House.' It's a bunch of nonsense."

But when one is an "effective advocate," he continued, "You know what happens, you're an effective advocate, someone's trying to hit you and trying to create a bridge between you and a divide between you and the president and his family. That's not going to happen with me."

Scaramucci, though, denied "on the record" that he has ever said he is planning to return, and told the show that he has never had a conversation with Trump or his family about returning.

Trump fired Scaramucci last July who had been on the job just 11 days, after he trashed then-chief of staff Reince Priebus as a "leaker" and then-senior White House aide Steve Bannon as a self-promoter in a profane media interview.

Still, Scaramucci said Thursday he considers Trump a friend and told the program they often talk.

"I wished him Happy New Year on New Year's Eve," he said. "He's been a good friend to me. I got fired because of what happened with my interview and Gen. [John] Kelly's decision to fire me."

Trump, Scaramucci continued, has an "unbelievable agenda for the American people," that he still backs, even though insisted he is "focused on my house, not the White House."

"The economy is growing," Scaramucci said. "Wages are up for middle and lower class families. He's going to tackle these national security issues better than anybody else we could have put in that job."

Scaramucci said personally, he is waiting for the sale of his business, SkyBridge Capital to go through, but it still needs approval.

"There's no national security reason why my deal can't close, so hopefully we'll hear about that in the first quarter, that deal closing and then I'll sit on the couch with you guys all day," he said.

Bloomberg reported in December that the deal remained on hold after another acquisition target made accusations that HNA, the SkyBridge buyer, misled U.S. national-security officials.

• Scaramucci: Was Hired to 'Take Out Bad Actors,' 'Long Knives' Got Me
• Scaramucci to Bannon: 'Stop Running Your Mouth,' 'Knock off the Nonsense'