Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has a message for anyone who has to deal with President Donald Trump: don't back down. In fact, he's urging a full-on "elbows up" approach, arguing that firm resistance is the only way to earn Trump's respect.

On Saturday, Scaramucci took to X to share his three-step playbook for engaging with the president. The advice is blunt and tactical, aimed at avoiding the traps that come with Trump's combative style.

"Never take the phone call on his terms," Scaramucci wrote. "Don't respond when he comes at you." He added a third rule: "Tell people — elbows up, I'm ready for the fight."

The logic, he explained, is that Trump responds to strength. "Push and shove with Trump and he respects it. Lay down and kowtow and you're finished."

Scaramucci's advice comes from personal experience. He served as White House communications director for just 11 days in 2017 before being fired, a brief tenure that has become a cautionary tale about the chaos of the Trump administration. But rather than let that define him, Scaramucci has turned it into a lesson in resilience.

"Get up, dust yourself off," he said, urging people not to let failure derail their careers. "You can recover from setbacks."

Beyond the tactical advice, Scaramucci has also been offering a broader critique of Trump's political style. He recently said that Trump relies on "narcissism and bullying" to maintain influence, and that "nobody really liked Donald Trump" — though he acknowledged Trump is "powerful, effective, charismatic in his way."

But Scaramucci also sees Trump as part of a larger phenomenon. He argued that Trump is "a symptom, not the disease," pointing to economic pressures like high housing costs and stagnant wages as the real fuel for populism. The median U.S. home now costs about $430,000, requiring roughly $150,000 in income to afford — a reality that, in Scaramucci's view, creates fertile ground for anti-establishment figures regardless of who they are.

So whether you're a politician, a business leader, or just someone who finds themselves in Trump's orbit, Scaramucci's advice is simple: stand your ground. Don't take the bait. And keep your elbows up.