Trump Will Soon Replace His Top Communications Guy, Bill Shine, With Sean Hannity

In yesterday’s Times, there's a must-read about Donald Trump’s third government shutdown, now in its twentieth day after yesterday’s temper tantrum, written by top-notch reporters Katie Rogers and Maggie Haberman: “Trump Thinks He’s His Own Best Messenger. Where Does That Leave Bill Shine?”

 

Shine is one of Trump’s top communications staffers. Mr. Shine came from Fox News, where he was best known as the chief protector of Roger Ailes. Ailes, who died in 2017, was well-known as a sexual predator.

 

Rogers and Haberman point out what we all knew instinctively, that Trump is constantly hungry for positive news coverage, and that he chafes at being managed. 

 

That should be no surprise, as he is totally unmanageable.

 

Their article quotes Newt Gingrich (remember Newt? Years ago, Garrison Kiellor sang a song on Prairie Home Companion when Newt became Speaker of the House in 1995, after he had clobbered President Bill Clinton in the 1994 mid-terms. It was a little ditty, and it went “Newt, Newt, he don’t give a hoot" (about people who are not wealthy, as he is).

 

In 2012, Gingrich ran against now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) for the GOP presidential nomination, but Gingrich, who has never, ever, been warm and cuddly, lost out to Mitt.

 

Rogers and Haberman have this quote from Gingrich about Trump: “This [Oval Office dude is] never going to be happy with his [media] coverage because he’s in a permanent war with the media…Shine in that sense is in a challenging environment. His primary client is somebody who would like a result that requires change but is not willing to change.”

 

They also quote counselor Kellyanne Conway: “Donald Trump is an irrespressibly press-savvy, communications-centric [occupant of the White House]. About Shine, Conway said, “He has a gut for what sells and an eye for what compels.”

 

Shine is the guy who made Trump give a total loser of an Oval Office address to the nation on Tuesday. It’s obvious that the only way that Sociopath-in-Chief Trump likes to communicate is through Twitter and at his rallies, which are always sold out.

 

Given Trump’s constant craving for adulation from the media — a craving that will never be satisfied — it’s clear that Shine flunked at doing what Trump wanted, namely, convincing American voters that it’s a good idea to buld a useless wall on our southern border.

 

Moments ago, associate solitary reporter Johanna Jones was with Trump as he tweeted that he has fired Mr. Shine.

 

When ASR Jones asked Trump who’s going to replace Shine, he said it will be his close personal friend from Fox News, Sean Hannity.