With Priebus out, Trump moves still further away from the Republican establishment

Actually, it’s not much of an overstatement to say that Priebus, along with Vice President Pence, was Trump’s connection to Capitol Hill insiders. On Thursday, Ryan defended Priebus: “Reince is doing a fantastic job at the White House, and I believe he has the president’s confidence.”

Smoothing Trump’s relationship with the establishment was arguably the reason Trump picked Priebus in the first place. It was an olive branch to the very people he had assailed on the campaign trail, as The Washington Post reported at the time.

No more olive branches, it seems. Sean Spicer, another Republican establishment figure, is out after Trump hired New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director.