The White House has grown so tumultuous in the wake of FBI Director James Comey that a former Trump transition official is advising whipsawed staffers to lawyer-up.

Trump's firing of Comey on Tuesday caught his own press shop off guard, and the initial explanations they came up with for the firing failed to hold up for more than a single news cycle – and sometimes got contradicted by later explanations and by the president himself.

'It's total chaos,' a former Trump transition official with close administration ties told The Hill.

Explaining the flurry of competing leaks, the former official said: 'It's image-making on the inside and people trying to protect themselves. There is a deep streak of paranoia among staff. The communications team sh** the bed on the Comey firing and now the war with the FBI has them all scared and throwing each other under the bus.'

A former Trump transition official said it was 'total chaos' inside the White House after a tumultuous week on the communications front

'Thank God I don't work there. If I did, I'd be dialing up my attorney,' the official added.

When Trump first decided to fire Comey, his press team reportedly got just an hour's notice to develop a rationale.

At one point Tuesday evening, Press Secretary Sean Spicer stood behind hedges near the West Wing to get his story straight before addressing reporters.

The White House immediately released a letter from deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein calling out Comey for his conduct during the Hillary Clinton administration.

Initial explanations heavily weighted Rosenstein's recommendation, although the president subsequently said he fired Comey because he wasn't doing his job.

With White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Navy reserve duty, his deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said 'countless' FBI agents had lost faith in Comey.

She was flatly contradicted by Andrew McCabe, the new acting FBI director.

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got grilled by reporters about the Comey firing on Wednesday

The end: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein delivered the fatal blow to Comey. He was away from the Washington D.C. headquarters of the FBI, visiting its field office in Los Angeles and had been due to speak at a recruitment event at the Directors Guild of America building.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly threatened to resign in protest over the White House citing him as the driving force behind President Donald Trump's decision to fire now-former FBI Director James Comey

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes part in the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on May 11, 2017 in Washington

President Trump is toying with nixing press briefings and handling the duties himself

Reports described various visceral reactions by the president including 'festering anger' over Comey's failure to stem leaks.

By the time an NBC interview with President Trump aired on Thursday, the president in his own words made the FBI's Russia investigation a part of his decision.

'In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,'' Trump told NBC.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been on and off this week doing Navy reserve duty. He was back on the job on Friday.

Trump raised the possibility of cancelling press briefings and replacing them with his own press conferences.

He told Jeanine Pirro on Fox: 'Unless I have them every two weeks and I do them myself, we don’t have them. I think it’s a good idea. First of all, you have a level of hostility that’s incredible and it’s very unfair.'

Trump talked up both Spicer, who was on Navy reserve duty during the middle of the chaotic week, and his deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who filled in for him.

'Sarah Huckabee is a lovely, young woman. You know Sean Spicer, he is a wonderful human being, he’s a nice man,' Trump said.

Spicer acknowledged Friday that press staff don't always have the full story and don't always get to see President Trump, but said they always try to correct information after the fact.

'We get here early. We work beyond being here at this podium. As many of you know we get here early. We work pretty late. We do what we can,' Spicer told reporters.

Pirro asked whether Spicer would be press secretary tomorrow, and Trump stuck with the present tense.

'Yeah, sure – he is. Well he’s doing a good job but he gets beat up,' the president said.