Donald Trump must be getting tired of John Kelly’s babysitting. He has reportedly been encouraging Anthony “the Mooch” Scaramucci to hit the cable news shows to attack his own chief of staff. Scaramucci nearly joined the White House last year, but after a series of embarrassing appearances, he was fired before his official start date. He didn’t stray too far from Trump and the two have apparently been working to humiliate the retired four star Marine General. From CNN:
The President has emboldened Anthony Scaramucci, the boisterous former communications director who was fired after just 10 days, to continue attacking White House chief of staff John Kelly during his cable news appearances, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
In multiple television segments, Scaramucci has faulted Kelly for the "terrible morale" in the West Wing, at times referring to him as "General Jackass" and suggesting he apologize for his handling of the Rob Porter resignation. According to this source, the President is aware of Scaramucci's criticisms and has not discouraged him from making them. Sources familiar with his thinking say Scaramucci is frustrated with Kelly because he has limited the former communications director's White House access.
Donald Trump doesn’t have the courage to fire John Kelly. One of the reasons for that might be the rumored pact Kelly has with Defense Secretary Mattis and Secretary of State Tillerson. From the Washington Examiner in Oct. 2017:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reportedly have forged a "suicide pact" in which all three members of President Trump's Cabinet would leave if one of them becomes a target of the president.
Unable to straight up fire John Kelly, he seems to be going down the Jeff Sessions route, trying to force him to quit through public humiliation. This. Is. Not. Normal.