OPINION:
While some might consider it a problem, President Trump contemplating changes to his communications team is a good sign on many levels.
First, we know the messaging from the White House is key to the transparency needed for the American people to know what the president and his administration are actually accomplishing.
In the past, we used to be able to count on the legacy media to be informed, but those days are over. Instead of reporters working on stories to bring us the news, we now have a media industrial complex determined to distort and mislead the American people about the actions and intentions of the president.
Media has always been generally hostile to Republican presidents, but now we’re dealing with such a high level of derangement that they don’t even try to hide their hostility and overt agenda to harm the ability of the president and his team to do their job.
This sad reality means the communications team at the White House doesn’t have a media they can work with. This places on that group the even more significant responsibility of not just informing reporters of what’s being accomplished and the state of the country, but now they have to actually overcome obstruction by the very people who are supposed to honestly report the facts of the matter.
It’s been apparent for weeks that the current team is in over its head. For people who support the president and want him to succeed, this is an especially important realization.
The problem is the bureaucracy. The current communications team includes press secretary Sean Spicer (who came in attached to Reince Priebus, both from the Republican National Committee, not known for its fabulous communications successes), and Communications Director Michael Dubke, a Republican operative and Crossroads Media founder, a part of the Karl Rove machine.
Word is both Mr. Spicer and Mr. Dubke are on weak footing as the president appears to realize that he needs a team that can keep up with him, and can articulate his agenda naturally and with confidence.
This is good news. The installation of these swamp puddles in this extraordinarily important office has taken its toll.
If current reports are accurate, more good news could be on the way. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the attorney and Fox News host, has been mentioned as a possible addition to the communications team. This is key for a number of reason: It telegraphs that the president knows he must bring in someone from outside the bureaucracy who understands his agenda and can impressively explain and promote it.
If Ms. Guilfoyle is, in fact, brought on, this undercuts the whispering that Mr. Trump has lost focus or has abandoned his base and is being swallowed by the very thing he vowed to drain.
CBS News reports, “White House press secretary Sean Spicer and communications director Mike Dubke are under the microscope now. The White House sent word out over the weekend that it wanted suggestions for a new press secretary. There have been reports that Fox News’ Kimberly Guilfoyle is being considered — she had originally been seriously considered for the job during the transition.”
For Mr. Trump, the communications team might not be the only one that needs adjustment. The Associated Press is reporting that the president is now viewing Mr. Priebus suspiciously when dealing with questions about White House leaks and “is mulling expanding the communications team and has eyed hiring producers from Fox News, according to one White House official.”
Much of the criticism of Mr. Trump’s style is that he’s always too far ahead of everyone. From the AP: ” ’The challenge they have is that the president sometimes moves so rapidly that they don’t get a team around that gets it organized,’ said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and current Trump ally. ’He’s a little bit like a quarterback that gets ahead of his offensive line.’ “
Mr. Trump’s management style is well-known. He is active and always in front (it’s called leading), and he assembles a team that is successfully challenged to keep up with him.
After eight disastrous years of the absurd Obama doctrine of “leading from behind,” Washington and the nation are seeing for the first time in a long while what leading from the front looks and feels like.
All the whining and complaining of the media suggests that Mr. Trump is wrong and just too independent. It’s Mr. Trump who has to change to moribund Washington’s expectations. The president, on the other hand, ran his business successfully by assembling people who could actually keep up with him. It’s safe to say he now understands the need to make that happen in the White House as well.
• Tammy Bruce, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.
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