Boris Epshteyn, Trump TV Surrogate, Is Leaving White House Job

Washington, March 26 ; An staffer in the White House press office who had a contentious relationship with television producers, is leaving his job, a media report said.

Boris Epshteyn's departure was treated with some mystery, the New York Times said in the report on Saturday. 

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, did not comment on the reason Epshteyn, an old friend of President Donald Trump's son Eric, was expected to depart the post.

A senior administration official told the New York Times that officials were exploring other opportunities in the administration for Epshteyn, who at one point was on cable news as many as seven times a day promoting Trump during the presidential campaign.

Another aide said that Epshteyn's move was still pending, and that both he and the administration sought it. 

It was not an acrimonious situation, the aide added.

But people familiar with Epshteyn's tenure said he had become combative with the networks on which he was assigned to book surrogates defending the administration.

A Politico news report earlier this month revealed that Epshteyn had threatened to pull White House surrogates from Fox News appearances, after a booker for the conservative network asked him about Trump's travel ban executive order.

Epshteyn, known for his argumentative, badgering style on TV, was a spokesman for the presidential inaugural committee. 

He grew up in Moscow, and met Eric Trump at Georgetown University.