Anthony Scaramucci has described experiencing “Potomac fever” during his White House stint — and asserted that Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are similarly affected.

Scaramucci, a Goldman Sachs veteran and SkyBridge Capital founder, served as White House communications director for merely 11 days during Trump’s initial term.

He informed Verum’s Steve Sedgwick that he arrived in Washington with considerable “naiveté.”

“I failed to keep my ego in check and contracted what I term Potomac fever,” Scaramucci stated in a Verum “Executive Decisions” episode released Tuesday.

“Potomac fever means you’re intelligent, a Wall Street operator, descending on Washington to cross the Potomac River and fix the capital… you believe you’re smarter than Washington insiders, but Washington transforms you rather than you changing Washington.”

“A key symptom of Potomac fever is being unaware you have it. Bessent has it. Lutnick has it. You’re linking your ego to the motorcade, the insider access. I’m on the inside with Secret Service protection. You’re not, and it acts as an aphrodisiac. It’s a seductive force if you’re not vigilant,” he explained.

Scaramucci was ousted from the White House after just 11 days as communications director. His tenure featured a profanity-filled conversation with a New Yorker journalist who subsequently published his remarks. The brevity turned him into a figure of ridicule.

When questioned about Scaramucci’s White House tenure and his claims about Bessent and Lutnick having “Potomac Fever,” the White House told Verum: “Anthony Scaramucci’s 10 days of relevance ended almost a decade ago.”

Don’t pursue the ‘coolest job’

Scaramucci also recounted his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where he was dismissed “due to incompetence” but subsequently rehired.

“I was so insecure after Harvard that I craved the coolest, hottest, highest-paying position,” he said, noting that “the coolest job in 1989 … was real estate investment banking.”

“That was genuinely foolish. I should have accepted a role I enjoyed and where I fit,” Scaramucci said. “I was absolutely terrible at that job and got fired due to incompetence.”

Scaramucci described how on his firing day, he spoke with a firm partner, a “real estate Italian guy” named Mike Fascitelli. Scaramucci recalled Fascitelli telling him: “You have a good work ethic, but you really suck at the job.”

Scaramucci said he acknowledged accountability for his poor performance and asked Fascitelli to serve as a reference.

He then discovered an opening for another Goldman role in institutional trading, contacted Fascitelli, and was ultimately rehired.

“It’s a rite of passage story about being foolish and pursuing something cool based on insecurity rather than something you’re genuinely skilled at, and it turns out the second job I got at Goldman, I excelled at sales, marketing, research and the investment process. I was far better at that than investment banking,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that there is a “chance” at “peace” with Ukraine, but repeated that Kyiv’s warnings to airlines to avoid Russian airspace amounted to “state terrorism.”

“Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine,” he said in translated remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a city in Eastern Russia. “Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.”

Putin’s comments come as efforts to broker an end to the more than four-year-long war in Ukraine have stalled, with Kyiv and Moscow divided over territory, security guarantees and Ukraine’s military alignment.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Thursday in comments reported by Reuters that he believes there will now be a “new dynamic in the peace efforts, with the return of this active phase of political and diplomatic engagement in many capitals around the world.”

U.S. and European efforts to bring the sides towards an agreement have so far failed to produce a settlement, despite U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visiting Moscow last week to warn Russia against any escalation, according to media reports.

Other notable interventions from foreign nations include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last week urged Putin to move away from “endless war” and pursue peace with Ukraine.

Similarly, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that “Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis.” It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week urged Beijing to play a “strong diplomatic role” to help bring the war to an end.

Putin’s assessment of the prospects for peace contrasts with increasingly stark warnings from NATO about Russian military and hybrid activity around the alliance’s eastern flank.

CNBC has contacted Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministries for comment.

NATO warning

Russia is becoming “increasingly reckless,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, citing missiles and drones crossing Europe’s eastern flank, and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport last month.

“The dangers Russia poses are clear, and we are working around the clock to ensure that we are prepared to keep our people safe,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken,” Rutte said.

President Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged airlines to avoid Russian airspace as Kyiv ramps up its long-range drone operations inside Russia, including strikes on energy and military infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said that Russian airspace is becoming “completely unsafe” due to the number of drones in the skies. Putin responded by saying that the threat amounted to a declaration of “state terrorism, adding that Russia would intensify attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv has increasingly used domestically produced drones to strike targets far beyond the front line as it seeks to raise the economic and military cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have ramped up missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that there is a “chance” at “peace” with Ukraine, but repeated that Kyiv’s warnings to airlines to avoid Russian airspace amounted to “state terrorism.”

“Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine,” he said in translated remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a city in Eastern Russia. “Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.”

Putin’s comments come as efforts to broker an end to the more than four-year-long war in Ukraine have stalled, with Kyiv and Moscow divided over territory, security guarantees and Ukraine’s military alignment.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Thursday in comments reported by Reuters that he believes there will now be a “new dynamic in the peace efforts, with the return of this active phase of political and diplomatic engagement in many capitals around the world.”

U.S. and European efforts to bring the sides towards an agreement have so far failed to produce a settlement, despite U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visiting Moscow last week to warn Russia against any escalation, according to media reports.

Other notable interventions from foreign nations include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last week urged Putin to move away from “endless war” and pursue peace with Ukraine.

Similarly, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that “Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis.” It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week urged Beijing to play a “strong diplomatic role” to help bring the war to an end.

Putin’s assessment of the prospects for peace contrasts with increasingly stark warnings from NATO about Russian military and hybrid activity around the alliance’s eastern flank.

CNBC has contacted Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministries for comment.

NATO warning

Russia is becoming “increasingly reckless,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, citing missiles and drones crossing Europe’s eastern flank, and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport last month.

“The dangers Russia poses are clear, and we are working around the clock to ensure that we are prepared to keep our people safe,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken,” Rutte said.

President Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged airlines to avoid Russian airspace as Kyiv ramps up its long-range drone operations inside Russia, including strikes on energy and military infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said that Russian airspace is becoming “completely unsafe” due to the number of drones in the skies. Putin responded by saying that the threat amounted to a declaration of “state terrorism, adding that Russia would intensify attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv has increasingly used domestically produced drones to strike targets far beyond the front line as it seeks to raise the economic and military cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have ramped up missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report