Anthony Scaramucci’s wife filed for divorce while she was nine months pregnant and, when their son arrived on Monday, he congratulated her by text message, according to a report in the United States.

The new White House communications director, who in the space of a week has gone from being a little-known financier to a household name - thanks largely to his expletive-laced rant about his new colleagues – is yet to confirm the divorce.

He tweeted a request for prayers for his family.