'Brilliant' move to control Trump flagged by ex-insider

Anthony Scaramucci, who served as White House Communications Director for 11 days in 2017 before being fired, is back with unsolicited but specific advice for anyone who has to deal with his former boss — and he has a case study.

In a video clip posted to X this week, Scaramucci laid out three rules: never take Trump's call on his terms, don't respond when he comes at you, and tell people you're ready for a fight. "Elbows up," he said. "When you do that with him, he comes towards you. My advice is you gotta push and shove with Trump. If you're overly kowtowing to him and laying down, forget it — never gonna work."

Then he got specific. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Scaramucci said, executed the strategy perfectly after winning his election earlier this year. Carney didn't call Trump to celebrate. He waited. "Trump was like, 'What the hell is going on?'" Scaramucci said. When Trump's team finally reached out, Carney set conditions: address him as Prime Minister, issue a communiqué after the call, and acknowledge Canada as a sovereign nation — not a "51st state." If Trump started "his bulls---," Carney wasn't taking the call, Scaramucci said.

"That's what Carney did, and the meeting went quite well," Scaramucci added. "Because Mark Carney knows how to forecheck in hockey. You have to forecheck Donald Trump."

The advice is consistent with what Scaramucci has been saying publicly since his brief and chaotic stint in the Trump White House, where he was hired by one chief of staff and fired by the next before he had officially started the job. He has since become one of Trump's more colorful Republican critics — and, apparently, an informal coach for anyone else who has to sit across the table from him.

Three quick things for anyone dealing with Trump.

1. Never take the phone call on his terms.
2. Don’t respond when he comes at you.
3. Tell people — elbows up, I’m ready for the fight.

When you do that, he comes toward you.

Push and shove with Trump and he respects it. Lay… pic.twitter.com/EHjbjZC34B
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) June 6, 2026