Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's support for Scott Pruitt may be wavering as White House aides renew a push to convince the President he should fire his embattled EPA chief, several sources told CNN.

White House officials saw a fresh opening to sway Trump against Pruitt late last week after the Atlantic published a report accusing a Pruitt aide of trying to spread negative stories about a fellow Cabinet member, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The report struck a chord with the President, who was bothered by the development and has grown more open to his aides' arguments that Pruitt must go, a White House aide and source close to the White House said.

Despite nearly a dozen investigations into Pruitt's conduct, Trump has resisted calls to fire Pruitt, worried about disruptions to his deregulatory agenda and concerned that it would be difficult to confirm a successor. White House aides have assured the President the agency's work can continue unabated if the EPA's recently-confirmed deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler, takes over.

"The ground has absolutely shifted," said a source close to the White House, who said the President is becoming convinced that Pruitt is doing more harm than good in his position.

But it was the allegation that Pruitt's team was taking aim at Zinke in an effort to distract from the EPA administrator's ethical troubles that has especially troubled the President and his aides, who were angry after catching wind of the reported plot, one White House source said.

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