Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Donald Trump’s communications director in his first term, has warned that the president could create serious trouble for himself — and his party — if he agrees to a proposed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Trump should be very careful with that because he would probably — he’s going to push the envelope where he may be asked to leave the presidency,” said Scaramucci on Sunday’s episode of “The Daily Beast Podcast.”
The proposed meeting — which, per The Wall Street Journal, Putin floated in an Oct. 9 call with Trump — would bring the leaders together in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.
The intended focus of the meeting, sources told the Journal, would be to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine — but without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Asked about the proposed meeting outside the White House last week, Trump said he’s open to whatever he can do to end the war “whether somebody’s there or not” before suggesting that denuclearization would be the focus of the talks.
Scaramucci, joining the likes of the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal editorial boards, advised the president against attending such a meeting.
“If that meeting were to happen, then I would tell you that the Republican Party is completely dead; we’d probably have to get a tombstone out,” he began.
“And you tell me the date of that meeting and I will chisel into the tombstone: ‘This party got started in Wisconsin in 1856, it elected Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and it died on the date of that meeting.’ The party is dead — sticking a fork in it — the Cheney, Bush, Romney, Reagan, Eisenhower party dead, stick a fork in it.”
Addressing those who might doubt his presidency-ending prediction, Scaramucci insisted it’s “not crazy,” as he expects Democrats will take the House in the midterms and could find a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove Trump from office.
“Let’s say they split and they go 50-50, you need 17 Republicans that have had enough of him,” Scaramucci said.
“They hate his guts... he hates them, by the way, and they hate him. And so, just so you know, keep pushing and keep doing this sort of nonsense that they all hate ... And you’re going to get cross traffic into Democrats who say, ‘Impeach him in the House, I’ll pull up 17 votes and we’ll knock him out of the presidency.’”
Trump has already been impeached twice in the House. However, the Senate acquitted him both times, so he was not removed from office.