The ethos of enrichment in this administration starts at the very top, with Trump and his family, for whom the presidency represents the ultimate branding opportunity. This separates Trump from his predecessors, none of whom had or held onto the array of business interests that remain in his possession, managed by his flesh and blood. And he’s hardly shy about advertising that empire. He and members of his cabinet swan and sup at the Trump International Hotel in Washington whose earnings since his inauguration have handily exceeded expectations. And according to a tally kept by NBC News, he has spent nearly one in every three days since he took office at a Trump-branded property, thereby bathing it in the brightest of spotlights.

Of course the initiation fee to join Mar-a-Loco doubled shortly after his election, to $200,000, and it wasn’t much later that Kellyanne Conway commanded patriotic Americans to buy Ivanka Trump handbags, shoes and jewels. Is this a presidency or a profit center? To judge by what has happened in only its first seven and a half months, the office’s degradations under Trump may well include its commercialization beyond anything seen before.

And the marketability of the Trump clan and those around them proves anew that visibility and notoriety are their own rewards, regardless of how they come about, and that the line between government business and show business can be awfully thin. Scaramucci sprinted from the White House grounds to the television studios and reaped huge ratings for Stephen Colbert when he appeared on his show. No matter what people thought of him, they wanted to ogle him, and he’ll be merrily monetizing that for some time to come.

So will Spicer, who at least had the good sense to turn down an offer from “Dancing With the Stars,” which is more than Energy Secretary Rick Perry can say. “His name ID is massive,” said the speaking agent who talked with Mike Allen, referring to Spicer. “He’s obsessed with that.” Spicer bragged to Allen about how his White House press briefings had been nightly prime-time viewing in parts of Europe. “I’m one of the most popular guys in Ireland,” he crowed.

So what if he trashed his previous reputation as a reasonably straight shooter? Who cares if he spread the lies of a serial fabulist? That’s entertainment! And it’s lucrative.

“I hope he goes on to make a tremendous amount of money,” Scaramucci told reporters as Spicer left the White House. What a poignant farewell. And what a perfect tell.