President Donald Trump s controversial firing of FBI director James Comey not only caught the media and members of Congress off guard, but apparently also his own staff.

The presidents decision to abruptly dismiss Comey as the FBI investigates Trump associates ties to Russia quickly invited comparisons to the Watergate scandal and has been characterized by some as a Constitutional crisis.

The Trump White House, however, seemed ill-prepared to handle what would clearly be bombshell news. On Tuesday night, surrogates messages were muddled on cable news and the press secretary behaved erratically as reporters tried getting answers outside the White House.

After Sean Spicer finished a Tuesday evening interview with reliably pro-Trump Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, he disappeared into the shadows, huddling with his staff behind a tall hedge, according The Washington Post s account of the surreal scene outside the White House.