But neither of those reasons mattered to Donald Trump. In fact, those were the reasons that Trump liked Acosta. Trump threw him under the bus anyway.
Make no mistake. What we saw in Trump and Acosta's appearance before reporters was nothing but political theater. Acosta did not resign of his own free will. Donald Trump fired him. And he fired him because he was throwing bad publicity on Trump (who was once close to Epstein and attended his parties with underage girls -- in spite of what he now claims). Trump knew his Epstein dilemma would continue as long as Acosta worked for him -- and Trump fervently wants this to go away (before it gets him in trouble).
Trump demands loyalty from those who work for him, but that loyalty is a one-way street. He does not return loyalty to those who give it to him. That's because Trump only cares about one person -- Donald Trump. Anyone who causes Trump to look bad (no matter how loyal they are) will be fired. And personally, I think that would even apply to his family.
It's a good thing Acosta was fired, but the reason for his firing was rather pathetic.