White House press secretary

White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigns

Mr Spicer stepped down because he was unhappy with US President Donald Trump's appointment of a new communications director, the New York Times reported.

Combative Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci has been picked for the role that Mr Spicer partially filled.

Mr Spicer's press briefings were a cable news hit, but he withdrew from camera in recent weeks.

The shake-up comes as the White House faces inquiries into alleged Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and whether Mr Trump's campaign team colluded with Moscow.

White House gaffe on Hitler and chemical weapons draws ire

"I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference about the Holocaust and there is no comparison," he said. "For that I apologise. It was a mistake to do that."

Critics pointed out gas was used to kill Jews and others in the Holocaust.

Mr Spicer had been criticising Russia's support for the Syrian government.

The White House says Russia has been trying to deflect blame for a chemical weapons attack that killed 89 people.

Spicer apologizes for Hitler comparison

This was in an effort to shame Russia's alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his use of chemical weapons.

The comment was immediately decried and after a series of attempts to clear up his words, Spicer apologized in an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Spicer: Trump didn't mean wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping

Namely, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump wasn't referring to wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping.

"I think there's no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election," Spicer said. "The President used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities."

Spicer attacks 'double standard' in response to WikiLeaks dump

After expressing concern about Wikileaks' release of documents allegedly revealing CIA surveillance techniques, Spicer quickly muddled his message.

He connected the latest WikiLeaks document dump to surveillance efforts under the Obama administration, days after President Donald Trump's leveled his unsubstantiated claim that President Barack Obama tapped the GOP candidate's phones during the 2016 campaign.

Spicer cracks down on White House leaks

Spicer called staff into his office last week to reiterate his frustration with the leaks, sources with knowledge of the matter said. He informed them that the use of encrypted texting apps, like Signal and Confide, was a violation of the Federal Records Act.

Then, with White House counsel Don McGahn standing by, Spicer asked his staff to provide him with their cell phones so he could ensure they were not using those apps or corresponding privately with reporters.