WASHINGTON -- Michael Dubke, the White House communications director, announced Tuesday that he was resigning, as President Donald Trump considers a broader shake-up of his staff in the face of multiple investigations.
Dubke, a veteran Republican strategist who served three months in the role, said he offered his resignation May 18 and agreed to stay on until Trump completed his first overseas trip, which ended over the weekend. Other staff changes could come by the end of the week, White House officials said.
The president's inner circle has been preparing a series of shifts intended to deal with the growing inquiries into any possible contacts between associates of Trump and Russia during last year's presidential campaign and the transition before his inauguration.
A damage-control plan assembled by the president's aides would try to wall off the investigations by setting up a war room inside the White House and enlisting a high-powered team of lawyers outside the West Wing.
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According to advisers, however, Trump is finding it challenging to recruit new aides as he considers casting off old ones. Four possible successors to Dubke contacted by the White House declined to be considered, according to an associate of Trump who, like others, asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
At the same time, talks with two former advisers, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, about joining the White House staff grew more complicated. Bossie, a former deputy campaign manager, signaled that he does not plan to join the staff, citing family concerns, one person close to the discussions said Tuesday. It was not clear what that might mean for Lewandowski, who was Trump's campaign manager until being fired last summer but who has remained close to Trump.
Aides described a White House where no one's position, not even Jared Kushner's, feels entirely secure. The president, aides said, has not ruled out the possibility that his son-in-law and daughter Ivanka Trump, who both hold White House positions, would return to New York this year, although White House officials said there were no plans for them to do so.
Trump has been more open in discussing the possible departure of Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff. The president has joked repeatedly with Priebus, whose mother is of Greek descent, that he would send him to Athens as ambassador to Greece. Speculation grew last week when a list of ambassadors was compiled at Priebus' request and the Athens position was left blank, officials said.
Even if he ousted Priebus, who has told friends that his goal was to remain in his job for at least a year, finding a replacement might be no easier than it has been for other positions. Trump has asked associates about Gary Cohn, his national economics adviser, and David Urban, who was an aide to Sen. Arlen Specter. Urban refused to comment Tuesday on CNN, where he is a paid analyst.
Trump has solicited advice lately from corporate leaders including Rupert Murdoch, and there have been renewed conversations about bringing in Laura Ingraham, the conservative radio host, as a communications adviser, according to people briefed on the discussions.
'Friendly departure'
Dubke, a veteran of national politics for a quarter-century, was among the aides who have struggled to impose discipline on the president. Dubke met his wife working on President George H.W. Bush's re-election campaign in 1992, advised Rick Perry when he was governor of Texas, bought advertising for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign and served as the main consultant for Sen. Dan Sullivan when he ousted as an incumbent in Alaska in 2014.
He founded Crossroads Media, a media-buying company, and helped found the Black Rock Group, a public relations firm. Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, asked Dubke to remain on the job a few more days to ease the transition. Dubke's last day on the job has not been determined.
Dubke's resignation was first reported by Mike Allen of Axios in his Tuesday morning newsletter.
"The reasons for my departure are personal, but it has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration," Dubke said in a message to friends on Tuesday. "It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side by side, day by day with the staff of the communications and press departments. This White House is filled with some of the finest and hardest working men and women in the American government."
In a brief interview, Dubke declined to elaborate on his reasons for leaving. "This is as friendly a departure as one could have," he said.
Priebus issued his own statement thanking Dubke for his service. "Mike will assist with the transition and be a strong advocate for the president and the president's policies moving forward," Priebus said.
The communications operation -- and Dubke and Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, specifically -- have come under sharp criticism from Trump and many senior officials in the West Wing, who believe the president has been poorly served by his staff, in particular in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey as FBI director.
Trump has privately and publicly pinned much of the blame for his administration's woes on the communications effort.
"In terms of messaging, I would give myself a C or a C plus," Trump said in an interview on Fox News Channel early in his term. "In terms of achievement, I think I'd give myself an A. Because I think I've done great things, but I don't think I have -- I and my people, I don't think we've explained it well enough to the American public."
Spicer pushed back Tuesday on the idea that a broader reorganization was imminent, but he acknowledged the president is frustrated with news stories "that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact. That is troubling."
Spicer said he thinks the president "is very pleased with his team," but he added, "Ultimately the best messenger is the president himself."
Dubke, who has worked closely with Spicer, served as a behind-the-scenes player helping manage communications strategy and responses to events such as the Comey firing, as well as rollout plans for policy and other initiatives.
Information for this article was contributed by Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush of The New York Times; by Philip Rucker of The Washington Post; and by Jill Colvin, Catherine Lucey, Vivian Salama, Ken Thomas and Julie Bykowicz of The Associated Press.
A Section on 05/31/2017
