JUMPING SHIP ON USS TRUMP
Communication chief may be first of many exits
WASHINGTON — White House Communications Director Mike Dubke is leaving his job — the first of what could be many staff shakeups as the Trump administration seeks to contain the growing Russia scandal.
Dubke, who was a late hire to the White House brought on to help stabilize a chaotic press process three months ago, offered his resignation just before President Trump left for an extended international trip two weeks ago, and agreed to stay on throughout the trip. He’s expected to leave his job in the coming days.
“It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration. It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-byday with the staff of the communications and press departments,” Dubke told the Daily News via email.
The ouster appears to to be the first move of a long-rumored major restructuring of the White House, as the President is repeatedly growing in his fury at brutal headlines, a stalled agenda and bad poll numbers
The outgoing communications director is close with press secretary Sean Spicer, whom Trump has seemingly sought to publicly shame in recent days after a bumpy run as the White House’s most visible public spokesman.
Spicer, a devout Catholic, was left out of Trump’s entourage when the President met Pope Francis last week. The very public slight hasn’t sat well with some White House staff.
On top of that, two Trump campaign advisers who hadn’t been given White House jobs — controversial former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and top campaign adviser David Bossie — have been brought back into Trump’s orbit and have been spotted at the White House in recent days.
It’s unclear who might have fallen out of Trump’s ever-changing favor, though once-untouchable son-in-law Jared Kushner is facing intense pressure from the outside following revelations that the FBI probe into possible Trump-Russia ties is scrutinizing his own actions.
Other changes are brewing, including the possibility of fewer daily press conferences from Spicer — something Trump publicly threatened in recent weeks.
Spicer was back at the podium Tuesday, the first time in weeks because of Trump’s foreign trip, and argued that Dubke’s exit doesn’t signal a broader staff shakeup. “I think the President is very pleased with his team,” he said. But he abruptly fled from the podium after a testy back-and-forth with reporters about “fake news,” which he repeatedly cited while saying Trump was frustrated by anonymously sourced stories — even though the President tweeted one himself Tuesday morning. PRESIDENT TRUMPinterviewed two more candidates to be his next FBI director, including John Pistole, a former second-in-command at the agency. Trump sat down with Pistole, who served as the FBI’s deputy director from 2004 to 2010 and as the chief of the Transportation Security Administration from 2010 to 2014, on Tuesday. White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced the interviews earlier on Tuesday. Trump also met with Chris Wray, who worked as an assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, about the vacancy. Spicer would not say if either candidate was considered a “finalist.” “When the President feels as though he’s met with the right candidate, he’ll let us know,” Spicer said at his daily press briefing. “He’ll meet with candidates today and continue to do so until he finds the right leader.” The job’s been open since Trump’s May 9 firing of James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into whether members of the Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to meddle in the election.