Trump's spin doctor Anthony Scaramucci seals White House press debut with kiss

Blowing a kiss to the White House press corps after his first outing at the podium, Donald Trump's new communications chief has signalled a different approach to the media.

In stark contrast to the blustering, confrontational style of his much-mocked predecessor Sean Spicer , Anthony Scaramucci gave a polished performance during his on-camera debut.

During a 37-minute charm offensive, the Wall Street financier fielded tough questions from reporters, praised the US President and even cracked a few self-deprecating jokes.

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The New Yorker's slick style was in marked contrast to Mr Spicer's first appearance in which he lambasted journalists over coverage of the crowd size at Mr Trump's inauguration and stormed out of the briefing room without answering questions.

However, the one-time critic of Mr Trump with no government experience may not have seemed the natural choice to be the President's communications director.

Back in 2015, during an appearance on Fox Business Network, Mr Scaramucci called his future boss "another hack politician".

"You are an inherited-money dude from Queens County, bring it, Donald," he said at the time.

Tackled over his comments during the press briefing, Mr Scaramucci joked to reporters that the President referred to it every 15 seconds and called it one of his "biggest mistakes".

He then looked into the cameras and said: "Mr President, if you're listening, I personally apologise for the 50th time for saying that."

He has also previously supported tighter gun controls, which Mr Trump has opposed.

In a tweet posted in August 2012, Mr Scaramucci wrote: "We (the USA) has 5% of the world's population but 50% of the world's guns. Enough is enough. It is just common sense it apply more controls."

Having once helped raise money for Barack Obama, he had also backed two of Mr Trump's rivals before giving his support to the billionaire tycoon once it became clear he would be the nominee.

He has gone on to become a staunch defender of Mr Trump.

Speaking at the press briefing, Mr Scaramucci argued there was "a disconnect" between the media and the way the public sees the President.

Referring to his working-class Long Island roots, he said: "The people I grew up with, they so identify with the President and they love him, and so we're going to get that message out."

"The President is a winner. And we're going to do a lot of winning," said Mr Scaramucci, who blew the kiss to the journalists as he left the White House briefing.

The Harvard Law School graduate takes up his White House post before US regulators have approved the sale of his hedge fund firm, SkyBridge Capital, to a group led by a Chinese conglomerate.